Beloved Mountmellick bakery celebrates 40 years of business
Beloved Mountmellick bakery ‘Nora’s Cake Shop’ is celebrating 40 years in business serving the community
What started as a way to provide for the large family of eight has grown into one of Mountmellick’s best known businesses, with generations of local families returning through its pink doors for fresh bread, homemade cakes and a friendly chat.
This year, Nora’s cake shop is celebrating 40 years in business, marking four decades at the heart of the community.
The bakery first opened in 1986 during the recession when Nora suggested opening a small bakery and cake shop, serving freshly baked goods alongside breakfast and lunches.
Initially based on Patrick Street, the business relocated to O’Connell Square in 1989, where it has remained ever since.
While Nora’s husband has always been responsible for the baking, Nora became the welcoming face behind the counter, creating the warm atmosphere customers have come to know over the years.
Their daughter, Lorna, said the bakery has always been a family affair.
“All six of us had to do a stint in the bakery and the shop, so we all learned how to bake and gained social skills by meeting and greeting customers,” she said.
“We all went on to our own careers, but every one of us has spent time working there. Now all of our own children have done the same.”
Today the business is proudly in it’s third generation of employees, with Lorna’s daughter among those continuing the family tradition.
Alongside family members, the bakery has also employed many local people throughout the years, with several staff members remaining within the business for decades.
Fresh bread, cakes and pastries are still baked daily using the original recipes. The bakery also serves all day breakfasts, lunches and afternoon tea, while specialising in birthday, wedding and celebration cakes.
Among it’s best known treats are the traditional chester cake, also known as ‘gur cake’, and a much loved cream bun made using a family recipe that was a particular favourite of Lorna’s grandmother.
While the recipes have stood the test of time, Lorna believes the bakery’s greatest strength has always been it’s relationship with the local community.
“I suppose became it’s a business from within the community. It’s family run, not a big multinational,” she said.
Over four decades, the bakery has welcomed generations of the same families through it’s doors.
“When we opened in 1986, parents were bringing their children in. Now those children are bringing their own kids. It’s become a little tradition.”
The connection became especially apparent during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Rather than the financial uncertainty, Lorna says the hardest part was losing the daily interaction with regular customers, particularly elderly members of the community.
“We have a lot of elderly people who come in regularly. We’d always notice if someone hadn’t been in for a day or two and we’d check up on them,” she said.
“When we reopened after the pandemic, the community came back and rallied around us. It was lovely to see.”
Lorna says that losing long standing customers to Covid during the pandemic felt like losing members of the family.
“It was like a family member passing away. No matter how many times markets have crashed of things have been tough, that was definitely the hardest thing for us.”
That sense of family remains at the heart of the business today.
“We don’t consider our customers just as customers. We consider them as family,” Lorna said.
“They come in for a chat, the banter and the craic. Sometimes they’ll even joke and ask if they can help wash up.”
“Anybody who comes through our door, we consider them family, and I think that’s the most important thing.”
The milestone was recently celebrated with a special customer appreciation evening, bringing together family, friends and loyal customers to mark the occasion.
Reflecting on the anniversary, Lorna said the family feels fortunate not only to have reached the milestone, but to have done so together.
“We are very blessed to still have mammy and daddy. They’ve instilled in all six of us a really good work ethic, a sense of community and the importance of family. That’s what has kept the bakery going for 40 years.”