Taking Care of Business: Unforgettable Bakery

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Undoubtedly, this last 15 months have been tough on all small business owners. The pandemic forced them to shut down and find new ways to reach customers and keep their doors open. Belinda Baptiste, the owner of Savannah’s Unforgettable Bakery, faced her share of challenges, but in the end, she learned how to keep taking care of business.

Baptiste has been working overtime to keep her bakery open.

“Struggles, struggles, struggles we’ve had lot of struggles, but at least we are still here right,” Belinda Baptiste, owner of Unforgettable Bakery, said.

Baptiste is thankful even after she came close to losing her business of twelve years during the pandemic. Before the shutdown, Unforgettable Bakery was open six days a week and thirty people could eat inside. Now it opens just three days a week with a limited menu and only four seats.

“We had like fifteen items on the menu. We probably have six now and it’s only the wraps. It is not a fast thing so if you come, it’ll probably take fifteen minutes to get your order. This way, we are not wasting as much food as we used to. Pre-COVID, we had four employees at least two of us were working full-time and two part time, but now it is very part time for three,” Baptiste explained.

It was tough, but she quickly learned to keep her doors open, she had to adapt and find a new way of doing things.

" The farmers market and that has been a huge blessing for us. If it wasn’t for the Forsyth Farmers’ Market, I don’t know where we would be,” Baptiste added.

In spite of bringing in far less profit and having to abruptly change to keep her doors open during uncertain times, Baptiste still fulfilled her mission to serve. She continued to raise money for children in her homeland of Haiti and developed a scholarship for students here at home. She says she owes it all to her devoted employees and customers.

“I want to pause and say thank you to the employees because they stuck with me. Although part time, they showed up. Without the people who love what we do, we would not be here. I have people that come in as well to get a gift card for $100 or $200. ‘I asked them who is it for? They say it’s for me because I really want my cake for Thanksgiving I don’t want you to close.’ People are very awesome I want to thank the whole community of Savannah for supporting me. I really appreciate it and I would not be here without those people,” Baptiste added.

So as Baptiste keeps fine tuning her business model to deal with the ever-changing pandemic rules, she keeps taking care of business with faith, hard work and hope for the future.

Although Unforgettable Bakery is only open three days now, Baptiste says if you need services for any special events, she’s always available. You can call 912-355-6160 or you can find them on Facebook and Instagram by searching for @unforgettablebakery. Their website is www.unforgettablebakery.com.

The Unforgettable Bakery is located at 238 Eisenhower Drive, Savannah, GA 31406.

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