Bakery has been in La Center storefront for 10 years and the sisters recently opened another store in Long Beach
LA CENTER — It is a small bakery in a small town, yet it has a huge following.
Sadie and Josie’s Bakery is more than just the quality of its breads, pastries, candies and the like. The reviews range from delicious to absolutely delicious to oh, that’s perfect.
Still, it is more than the baked goods that make it a go-to place.
Sadie Shapovalov and Josie Hubler are all about La Center.
“I love being part of the community,” Shapovalov said. “Me and my brother and sister all graduated from La Center. All of our kids have gone through the La Center School District. To be able to be plugged into the community and be able to offer something to the community, it’s just really special. I love being part of it.”
Sadie and Josie, sisters, started the bakery in a mobile bakery after both had worked at Save-On-Foods in Woodland for years. Sadie and Josie moved into the storefront in La Center (582 NW Pacific Highway) in 2010. Their big brother, Chris Martin, joined them, as well.
The bakery’s website notes that Chris passed away after a battle with cancer in 2013. But it was his dream to see his children and nephews and nieces work at the bakery.
That has come true. In all, there are eight cousins who are working with Sadie and Josie. In fact, Sadie and Josie’s opened a new bakery in Long Beach last spring.
“This was a job Josie and I could do and stay home and raise our kids,” Sadie said, looking back at the beginning. “Our kids are all older now. To be able to expand a little bit more, it’s exciting and a lot of fun.”
It all starts with the love of family and the love of community. Oh, and of course, the love for baked goods.
Wednesday is national pastry day, so naturally, we visited Sadie and Josie’s Bakery.
Sadie said she remembered when she first started baking, she asked other bakers how they manage to not eat everything. They told her not to worry. She’ll get sick of it, being around it every day.
Nope. That didn’t happen.
“It’s been 25 years, and I’m dependent on it,” Sadie said with a laugh.
“My favorite thing to bake is bread. I love the dough,” she said. “My favorite thing to eat … pretty much all of it.”
There’s bread and a variety of pastries, plus doughnuts. The bakery also makes candy. In fact, everything sold at the bakery is made from scratch.
Everything sold at the Sadie and Josie’s Bakery is made from scratch. Photos by Mike Schultz Everything sold at the Sadie and Josie’s Bakery is made from scratch. Photos by Mike Schultz Everything sold at the Sadie and Josie’s Bakery is made from scratch. Photos by Mike Schultz
As its website claims: “Scratch is not scratching the top of the box while opening it. Scratch is getting out the real butter, eggs, milk, sugar, flour, etc.”
The bakery started making its candies the first year at the store just for the holiday season. Sadie said the candies sold so well, they started making them year-round. The peanut butter balls are a top seller.
On a typical day, the morning bakers arrive between 3 and 4 a.m. During the holidays, it is not unusual for the workday to begin at midnight.
Not that Sadie and Josie would complain about the hours. This is their passion.
“I’ve been baking for almost 25 years, and I still love it,” Sadie said.
