Plans are in the works for a new bakery in downtown Crozet.
Owner Marketa Johnson said she plans to open the doors to Praha Bakery in early April. Johnson’s business will occupy what used to be Patterson’s Flower Shop at 5778 Three Notch’d Road, which shuttered in 2009.
Johnson, who was born and raised in Prague, or Praha in Czech, said she intends to serve a selection of pastries and baked goods from her hometown.
“Prague is my favorite city, and it always will be. Every Czech woman is a baker,” Johnson said.
The project was a long time in the making, she added.
“This has been quite a project, because my husband and I started looking for a spot more than a year ago,” Johnson said.
Inflation has made opening the bakery more difficult, Johnson said. Consumer prices rose 7.7% between October 2021 and October 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“The build-out turned out to be almost three times as much as we thought at the beginning because the prices of stainless steel and everything just went up,” Johnson said.
Though Johnson’s husband has operated his own business before — he is a local beekeeper — it’s her first time taking the helm of her own venture.
“This has always been a dream of mine,” Johnson said. “We’re finally at the right place and time.”
The building at 5778 Three Notch’d Road is owned by Crozet Center Partners. The landlord owns three other adjoining properties on Three Notch’d Road.
The 5778 property most recently sold in February 2016 for $642,000. In January 2022, it was assessed at $880,400.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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