When Abby and Jacob Blada attended Badger High School they enjoyed dining at what was then known as the Happy Cafe Chinese restaurant, 526 S. Wells St., which had a mini golf course next door.
About 10 years later, Happy Cafe has since closed and the couple now is using that building to bake up some tasty treats of their own. The Bladas purchased the Wells Street building in September and have converted it into a storefront location for their bakery business, Poppy Cakes Patisserie.
“We always liked this place,” Jacob Blada said. “We were able to make a deal for it, and here we are.”
Abby Blada said she feels the former Chinese restaurant is the ideal location for the bakery.
“We like the idea that it’s kind of away from the downtown, but it’s still near the downtown,” Blada said.
The bakery currently is open for pick-up and delivery service while the building is being renovated, but Jacob Blada said he hopes the business will be available for in-customer service by early February.
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Jacob Blada said he had hoped to have the business available for in-customer service in September, but supply chain issues delayed the renovation process.
“Obviously, the supply chain issues this year made it a little difficult to get up and running sooner than we had hoped,” Jacob Blada said. “But we’re hoping by Valentine’s Day to have everything set in place.”
Poppy Cakes Patisserie features cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, brownies, cakes, breakfast desserts and decorated cookies. The items, which are made from scratch, are available for weddings, birthday parties and other special events.
“We don’t do box mix, so everything is made from scratch,” Jacob Blada said. “It’s harder to do. It’s not just take it out of a freezer and put it in an oven. You have to make sure you mix it right.”
Abby Blada started the business out of her home about five years ago. She said as the business grew, she needed a storefront location.
“It just got too big, so we reached out to the old owners and bought the building and started doing what we’re doing now,” Abby Blada said.
Jacob Blada said they have been busy remodeling the building during the past few months to prepare the business for sit-down service. He said some of the work that still needs to be completed includes installing new floors, updating the lighting system, renovating the restrooms and installing a pastry case.
“It just needed to be refreshed a little bit,” Jacob Blada said. “A lot of it at this point is mainly cosmetic. All the big stuff is pretty much done.”
The couple also plans to convert the miniature golf course located next to the building, which they also own, into an outdoor seating area and event space.
“We’re trying to tackle little bits at a time,” Jacob Blada said. “We’re trying to figure out what we want to do with it specifically, but the main goal is to create a space where we can have yard games out there and give a spot for locals to go, so they don’t have to battle downtown traffic.”
Abby Blada first became interested in baking when she was about 6 years old. She worked as a baker and cake decorator while attending high school and graduated from a culinary school in Crystal Lake, Illinois. She also has worked at Lake Lawn Resort and a cake shop in Dubuque, Iowa.
“I use to bake all the time,” Abby Blada said. “In high school, you take one of those career tests, it gave me cake decorator.”
Abby Blada said she now enjoys operating her own bakery business and is excited about being open in a storefront location.
‘It’s been amazing to be back in a commercial space and working on a large scale again,” Abby Blada said. “It’s been great to get out of the house. Especially after the lockdown and COVID, it’s nice to get back into the community and meet people again.”
Jacob Blada is involved with helping to manage the business. He said he previously worked as an industrial engineer, so managing a business is a new experience for him.
“It’s been a very good experience,” Jacob Blada said. “It’s a new challenge, which I’ve really come to enjoy. Sometimes it can be frustrating, but it’s been good.”
For more information about Poppy Cakes Patisserie, call 262-729-4023 or visit www.poppycakeslg.com.
Iowa couple's Lake Geneva wedding: 'I wish we could relive it 1,000 times'
The Hollands
Michael and Emily Holland were married last June at Maxwell Mansion in Lake Geneva.
The Big Day
"A wedding really just takes a lot of time," said Emily Holland.
Exchanging vows
Walking down the aisle
Rings
"I think we both knew how special our relationship was and we were ready for that next step in our adventure," said Michael Holland, about marrying his wife, Emily.
Cutting the cake
"From the beginning, we wanted a unique and beautiful wedding where we were surrounded by our family and friends while keeping it laid back and fun," Emily Holland said. "Our wedding was just that."
At the Riviera
Michael and Emily Holland, sitting at the Driehaus Fountain at the Riviera, Lake Geneva.
Maxwell Mansion
On choosing Maxwell Mansion for their wedding, Michael Holland said, "Emily and I didn't even visit Maxwell in person. We knew from the photos that it was the perfect place for our wedding day."
Emily Holland
Laidback feels
"Lake Geneva brought back all the feels of laid-back lake life," said Michael Holland, pictured at the right of his wife, Emily.
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Former Happy Cafe Chinese restaurant converted into Poppy Cakes bakery, - Lake Geneva Regional News
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