Bakery expands step-by-step in pandemic

OTHELLO — Janice Baginski started her business by taking custom orders and, in just more than a year, expanded to a part-time location and hours.

Now, she’s expanding The Cow Path: Artisan Bakery and Creamery at 127 E. Larch St. a bit further.

“We’re actually planning to do one day a week in Moses Lake. Probably just start with pre-orders and go from there, see what the response is,” she said.

It’s a relatively normal path for a business, except with the COVID-19 outbreak.

Baginski said it’s a little hard for her to tell whether business has been affected by the outbreak.

“I started in January 2020,” she said Friday, beginning with custom orders. “I don’t have anything to compare it to. I don’t know what a not-pandemic year is. We’ve just been rolling with it.”

She concentrated on custom orders during the spring, although it was a little challenging in March, not knowing if she should shut down, she said. But she got some business for Easter and more for Mother’s Day.

When she decided to open a retail location last summer she started with a stand in her own front yard at the family dairy farm near Othello. But summer doesn’t last forever and Baginski didn’t want to lose the clientele she built.

So she turned to a concept more common in urban areas: the pop-up shop.

In the fall, she opened Saturdays at the Pizza Factory at 103 S. First Ave., where she rented the kitchen to bake goods she couldn’t make at the farm. Business was good enough she expanded from one day a week to two, Friday and Saturday.

Now, she’s added a third day, Thursday, and expanded her hours. The bakery is open from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays.

“We’re open a little earlier to cater to the customer that has to be at work before 9 (a.m.),” she said. “We have our repeat customers that come every week, we see new faces. It’s been fun to bless people through delicious food. It’s a privilege, right? It’s been slow growth. We’re learning as we go. For the most part we sell out. Every once in a while I take a tub of goodies home, and my kids don’t really complain about that.”

She also switched kitchens, to the Othello Eagles lodge at 127 E. Larch St.

“Alfie (Pizza Factory manager Alfred Voorhies) was super-generous, but we just got busier and busier, and it was more challenging, because he’s got a business in there,” Baginiski said.

Eagles members were not meeting in the building during the pandemic, so they agreed to rent it to Baginski.

“It’s a temporary fix, but it’s working out nice,” she said.

The ultimate goal is to have her own shop.

“I have a large mixer and a commercial oven parked in my garage, waiting to be put into our own location,” she said. “The vision is to be in our own store, and every week that we sell out is just affirmation that we’re on the right track to be in our own space. Hopefully by the end of this year, we’ll have a grand opening, somewhere.”

The next step is the move to Moses Lake, with the first deliveries scheduled 2 to 6 p.m. March 4 at The Favored Farmhouse, 415 S. Alder St. Customers can order from a menu on the bakery’s website, thecowpathbakery.com, or by emailing to order@thecowpathbakery.com.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.