Vegan News
Fort Worth's only 100-percent vegan bakery closes but do not despair
Planted Bakery pumpkin cupcake
The vegan story in Fort Worth has mostly been about openings but this time it's a closure: Planted Bakery, the mom-and-pop located in a modest strip center at 5400 Woodway Dr. in southwest Fort Worth, has closed up shop, but will continue to do some online sales of some of its most popular items.
The shop represented the only vegan bakery of its kind in Fort Worth, although vegan baked goods are also sold at Spiral Diner and Dreamboat Donuts & Scoops.
Planted bravely opened in the thick of the pandemic in August 2020, from husband-and-wife Mark and Stephanie Garza, who are vegan and wanted to offer a place to get vegan treats. Stephanie, who'd worked at Sur La Table, had already been baking vegan goods for her kids' school and for her church, and decided to turn her efforts into a full-time endeavor.
They did quick breads, cupcakes, layer cakes, "chubby" cookies in flavors such as chocolate chip, peanut butter, dried cherry-white chocolate, and oatmeal raisin, as well as an entire line of sourdough breads, which were Mark's specialty.
The bread led them to offer sandwiches and meal prep, offering delectable items like chickepea pot pie, which developed their own following. Many of those items will continue to be available, only in a different format, Stephanie says.
"We'll still be doing the savory stuff, but in orders of a half dozen, rather than one item at a time," she says.
That'll include items like spinach alfredo cruffins, pizza cruffins, and pepperoni rolls but now by the half dozen.
"They're all great to freeze, then pull out and reheat when you want to eat them," she says. They'll also sell their goods at area farmers markets.
It was not a lack of business that prompted the closure. They frequently had sold-out days. But the location was a bit far-flung, and the center they were in also had limited parking.
"Planted was our dream, but that location was not our dream," Stephanie says tactfully.
A final major factor was a career change for Mark, who has experience in the construction industry and got a new job that uses his savvy in that field. They'll no longer do bread.
But they will still have pies, cookies, cakes, cupcakes, cruffins, Danish, cinnamon rolls, fritters, turnovers, sausage rolls, and pepperoni rolls.
Customers can order on their website www.plantedbakery.com, then schedule a pick-up time at Hulen Street Church.
"As a small business we have to ebb and flow with the tide of the economy," Stephanie says. "The bakery was a good way for us to get our brand out there, and now we can continue to make holidays and other days vegan-special, but just do it online."
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