Katie Kopsick opened the doors of her new bakery location in Harpers Ferry at the end of October. In addition to her own bread and pastries, the store stocks items that pair well with bread (jams, honey) and snacks, all of which she sources from local producers. The current mix includes items from Appalachian Chocolate (Shenandoah Junction), Black Dog Coffee (Bardane), Deliteful Dairy (farmstead cow cheese, milk, cream & butter – Williamsport, MD), Locke’s Mill Grains (organic stone milled flour – Berryville, VA), Mad Magic Kombucha (Warrenton, VA), Mountaineer Popcorn (Shepherdstown), Shepherds Manor (farmstead sheep’s milk cheese – New Windsor, MD), Sister Sue’s Jams and Jellies (Martinsburg), Sugar High LLC (cocoa bombs, caramel apples – Charles Town), and Two Moms and a Cupcake (cupcakes, candies – Bolivar), and Kopsick says she’ll be adding more in the coming months.
“We thought we’d have a ‘grand opening’ after a while, but we just kept on rolling.” Literally, as it turns out. “As a “cottage baker,” I’ve been baking for wholesale customers and deliveries for years, but never in a store front situation,” Kopsick explained. “When I was working to set up the store, I worried whether people would come. I was really surprised by how many people have been stopping by, both locals and out-of-town visitors. I’m already making at least three times the volume of what I projected — and certainly buying a lot more flour. I was also surprised by what would sell. Pastries were not part of my original plan, but they sell so well I have reconfigured the kitchen to add space for making and storing them.”
Kopsick says she has plans to make use of the extra space in the store to offer hands-on classes. “Not just me teaching about bread-making, but other people sharing family recipes for cooking and baking. My hope is that it becomes a community sharing and learning space.”
