On Feb. 18, one of Northfield’s most beloved businesses, Bread People, officially opened the doors to their new location on Division Street. Previously, Bread People was located by Verizon and Caribou Coffee off the intersection of Fifth Street and Highway 3.  

The owner, Morgan Morton, shared what it was like to move to a downtown location. 

“It’s nice to feel like we are really in the center of the business community…there’s a much wider reach in the downtown area,” Morton said in an interview with The Olaf Messenger. 

Morton stated that business has increased since moving.

 “The last couple days have been insane. We are doing like 3-4 times the business we were doing on a really good day over there,” referring to the previous location. 

With the change in location, Bread People has also added new products to their menu. The community is especially excited about the addition of donuts. 

“We inherited the donut fryer, which used to be The Robin’s Egg and before that Quality Bakery’s, so it’s been there since the 1960s,” Morton said. 

Morton shared how community members have shared happy memories of getting donuts as children from Quality Bakery and are grateful to see the tradition continue.

The physical building itself is full of nostalgia and history. 

The space is the “longest continuously operating bakery in the state of Minnesota, since 1903,” Morton said. 

She explained how the owners of The Robin’s Egg, who still own the building, specifically reached out to Bread People when they were looking for someone else to operate the space. 

“They also really wanted to have it stay a bakery,” Morton said. “They really value that history.”

After the building owners reached out around Halloween, the project started moving and Bread People took over the lease in January. Morton expressed that the fast move into the new location would not have been possible without the hard work of her team and the support of the community. 

“The electricians in town, and the plumbers, prioritized us so we could make sure we could make it happen this quickly,” Morton said. “Northfield is a nice place to be a business owner because everything is so intimate in that way.”

The community and the team behind Bread People are all so excited to start this new chapter in a downtown space and to continue the legacy that was protected by The Robin’s Egg. As they look to the future, Morton and her team look forward to participating in downtown events and becoming embedded in the downtown business scene.