Kelly Childs throw in the towel - her bake shop will have to find a new home.

News 100 redBy Staff

July 11, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

In an emotional farewell, Kelly Childs and her daughter told a city council committee last night that they were throwing in the towel and would not continue the operation of their bake shop on Brant Street when their lease expires.

Ford + two others at Kellys

The bake shop became a popular drop in for hundreds of people.

The property is part of an assembly being done by Reserve Properties who have a development application before the city to build a 23 storey tower on the south east corner of Brant and James.

The building the bake shop is in now is on the municipal registry but has not been designated a Heritage site.

The developers let council know that it would not be possible for any commercial operation to be in the building while construction is taking place. And, the plan being proposed, would call for a slight shift in the actual location of the building.

Kellys - Mother and daugter - kelly lk down - not all bd

Kelly Childs on the right with her daughter Aaron going over the schedule for a day in the bake shop

Childs told council that all that will be left is a board and batten façade with nothing inside. The developer is committed to keeping both the bake shop building and the building that was once an ice house that is now a jewelers shop on John Street, both were intended to give any development some heritage credibility.

Childs told the committee that the store had traffic that amounted to 12,000 people a week visiting the location – a phenomenal number. It would amount to more than 1700 people in a single day assuming a 7 day a week operation. An eye brow raising number.

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9 comments to Kelly Childs throw in the towel – her bake shop will have to find a new home.

  • Brad

    They were overpriced anyways, move it to Toronto.

  • Camille

    When is the lease up? I don’t see that in the article.

  • Judy

    I knew it!!! Centro and kelly’s. What a shame!!

  • Lonely Taxpayer

    It is sad to see a local icon disappear – but something doesn’t pass the smell test?

    12,000 customers a week buying the lowest priced item @ $5 makes $60,000 / week income. Cash sale revenue in excess of $3 million per year with low overhead.
    (Industry average annual revenue for a bakery in US is about 450K )
    It doesn’t make sense to close up a business like that?

    Relocate and the 12,000 customers will follow you.

    • rob n

      Wow – who knew there was so much “dough” in cup cakes!!! (very small baking joke…)

      I second Lonely Taxpayer’s (LT) recommendation to relocate. If LT’s numbers are correct, and Kelly’s Bake Shoppe has 12,000 customers per week as they proclaim, they must have a loyal following. Relocate! Or sell the business… any takers?

      Even with a revenue stream of $500,000 (one sixth of LT’s numbers), the Bake Shoppe would be considered a very successful bakery and small business.

      If these numbers a correct, and only the owner knows the true numbers, some other cup cake business will fill the gap. Too much money to leave on the table.

      Disclaimer: I am not a cupcake aficionado, I have never had a cup cake from the Shoppe. I have only bought 1 cupcake in the last 2 years (can’t remember buying one before that, maybe as a small lad, me Mum would buy them back in the Olde country, but I digress). The cupcake was $6.00 or so, downtown T.O., was the size of a toonie topped with a 10 cm devil’s red icing spiral and had 600 calories, about 1/3 of my total daily caloric intake. Too rich for my wallet, waist and arteries. I don’t even think I ate the whole thing…

  • Dayne Godwin

    Apparently everything from No Frills to there is going to be condos. If you think driving around downtown is rough now, wait until those towers are built and 200+ new cars are out and about on the roads…

    • Hans

      Agreed. There will be no reason to go downtown and every reason to avoid it – unless you live there 🙁

  • Penny

    A suggestion has come forward – there is an empty lot on the corner of Caroline and John Street. This is land that is owned by the City. Buildings have been demolished supposedly to provide more parking. Well why not relocate Kelly’s there and provide some extra parking as well.

    If the City wants to show residents that it does “care” this seems like an easy fix that is within their power to make happen.

    Please email, and or call your councillors, the planner for the development , James Ridge, Mary-Lou Tanner and suggest this as an alternative to simply allowing a thriving retail business that brings tourists to the area to leave.

    I always believe there is a solution. It is the willingness to make it happen that is the issue.

  • Penny

    The City allows for developers to move heritage designated buildings – this is what happened to allow the Saxony Development on Elgin Street to move forward. Why not ask Reserve Properties to do the same thing? Relocate the building that Kelly occupies. Certainly there must be some land in the core that the City owns that can accommodate this structure. This would mean only 1 move.

    Also one of the reasons cited why Kelly could not operate while construction was taking place was the the noise and destruction involved in shoring up the property for the new development.

    I have a question? Did the the City not just spend a lot of money constructing the “grey concrete” Elgin Street Promenade that abuts Kelly’s? What is going to happen to that area while this is happening?