Open for just over a year, Windmill Lane Bakery Co. is closing its oven doors.
Citing a dramatic anticipated rent increase, a business partner not keeping up their end of the deal, and a severe loss in sales after the summer season as reasons for the closing, owner Karoline Cerqueira will keep her short-lived bakery business open until the end of this work week.
A holistic chef and certified nutritionist, Cerqueira offered gluten-free, vegan and dairy-free options in addition to her traditional bakes. (Photos by Doug Young)
“There were a couple reasons [for closing] I don’t want to discuss in detail, but I had a business agreement with someone, and he never followed through,” Cerqueira says. “That, and my rent, it’s very expensive here. My sales went down. It’s a very seasonal place. Between my rent and all the expenses I pay $10,000 a month. My sales went extremely down in September, … I feel like this season in the Hamptons ended extremely fast.”
Cerqueira noted the trend throughout Southampton Village and the East End with small businesses, like hers, struggling to survive.
“I don’t want to be negative, but Southampton needed a bakery,” she says. “Southampton needs more local businesses. But the way I see things going, I think this village is going to look pretty sad in a couple months.”
Cerqueira, a private holistic chef and certified ayurvedic nutritionist, will continue to stay in the culinary world, falling back on her chef profession and working with clients in the Hamptons, New York City, Florida and internationally.
“I’m so grateful for the entire experience. It’s a shame. I wish I could continue, because I love what I created,” she says.
However, not all of Windmill Lane Bakery is saying goodbye. Cerqueira says she will continue to take orders for her baked goods as well as savory treats and meals online, preparing them at a commercial kitchen. She’s taking orders for Thanksgiving and the holiday season, so make sure to check her website here to place orders. “I don’t have a location right now, but that it’s something that is going to be in the near future,” she says.
If you’d like to check out what Cequeira’s up to as a private chef, click here.
Windmill Lane Bakery will be offering highly discounted items, from baked goods to furniture, for the rest of the week. They’ll be open today through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
