New bakery expected to open this fall
By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Downtown Beaufort will soon have the smell of fresh bread and pastries wafting through its streets.
Beaufort Baking Company is expected to welcome customers this fall at 211 Scott Street, in the former clothing store next to Blackstone’s Cafe.
Owned by local businessman Jake Higgins, the bakery is targeting a September or October opening, depending on the completion of renovations and equipment installation. Once open, it will offer fresh breads, cakes, pies, pastries, cookies and other baked goods made entirely on site.
“It’ll be a full-service bakery,” Higgins said. “Nothing will be pre-made somewhere else. It’ll all be freshly made in the shop.”
For Higgins, the bakery is more than just another business venture. It’s the realization of a dream inspired by childhood visits to a neighborhood bakery, where he remembers watching bakers mix dough and fill display cases with fresh bread and pastries.
“I just never forgot it,” he said. “I always thought every downtown should have a bakery.”
He believes that experience is something many communities have lost.
“Brick-and-mortar bakeries have kind of become a thing of the past,” Higgins said.
Instead of simply selling baked goods, Higgins said he wants customers to experience the craft behind them.
“We buy so many pre-made things that we forget there’s a creative part to it,” he said. “Bakers are artists. I think Beaufort needs that, where we can actually see food being created.”
Unlike many modern bakery concepts that focus primarily on coffee or grab-and-go desserts, Higgins said Beaufort Baking Company is being designed to fill a different role downtown.
“This is not a Starbucks,” he said. “This is not an ice cream shop. This is a true bakery.”
That distinction is intentional.
While downtown Beaufort is already home to several ice cream shops and The Chocolate Tree is expected to reopen later this fall after being closed for more than a year, Higgins said Beaufort Baking Company is intended to complement those businesses rather than compete with them.
He also envisions the bakery becoming part of Beaufort’s growing social district. Rather than closing during the afternoon like many traditional bakeries, Beaufort Baking Company plans to remain open into the evening, giving people another place to gather after dinner, enjoy dessert with friends or pick up fresh bread and pastries while strolling downtown.
“We’re not going to be a New York bakery,” Higgins said. “We’re going to be a Beaufort bakery.”
The bakery’s menu is still being finalized but will include artisan breads, cakes, pies, cupcakes, cookies and other pastries made fresh each day. Higgins said the bakery will also specialize in custom cakes for weddings, birthdays and other celebrations, helping meet a growing demand for locally made wedding cakes.
Coffee will be available using Blackstone’s coffee, but Higgins said it will remain a complement to the bakery rather than its primary focus.
While the bakery will emphasize fresh, made-from-scratch products, Higgins said keeping prices affordable is just as important as quality.
He said he wants Beaufort Baking Company to be a place where local families feel comfortable stopping in for fresh bread, pastries or dessert without feeling like it is reserved for special occasions.
“Our locals are most important,” Higgins said. “They’re the ones who support you year-round.”
Higgins said he hopes the bakery becomes part of residents’ everyday routines, whether they are picking up a loaf of bread for dinner, ordering a birthday cake, bringing pastries to the office or ending an evening downtown with an affordable slice of cake or pie.
The bakery is also expected to supply desserts to several of Higgins’ existing restaurants, including Blackstone’s Cafe, Bricks and Hilton Head Tavern, allowing customers to enjoy Beaufort Baking Company cakes and pies at multiple locations throughout the Lowcountry.
Interest in the bakery has already extended beyond future customers.
Higgins said the business has received more than 100 applications from professional bakers, including several who previously owned bakeries before the COVID-19 pandemic. He is continuing interviews as he builds his team ahead of opening.
Construction continues inside the Scott Street building as crews transform the former retail space into a commercial bakery complete with ovens, mixers and production equipment.
If construction remains on schedule, Beaufort Baking Company is expected to open this fall, and Higgins hopes it will become a gathering place where residents and visitors alike can enjoy fresh baked goods made from scratch, experience a traditional neighborhood bakery and find an affordable treat while exploring Beaufort’s growing downtown.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.