Let It Bake finds new home on Broadway

When Samantha Lax started Let It Bake in 2024, making gluten- and dairy-free baked goods out of her home, she never expected she’d be opening a storefront, but this week she celebrated her grand opening at 114 S Broadway in Green Bay.

“It was not even really a plan,” she said. “I’m a (Facebook) Marketplace addict. I just love to scroll and see what people are getting rid of. I saw the post for this space being available for rent, so I messaged the landlord.”

After preparing a business plan attending an open house, Lax got word that the space would be hers.

“There was a lot of interest in the space, and I saw that being at the open house…” she said. “[The landlord] messaged and said that she’d like to move forward with me and I was in shock. I didn’t even know how to respond or what to say.”

Lax said Let It Bake has come a long way from where the business started.

“Me and my friend were doing it together,” she said. “I was going to do human treats and she was doing dog treats. We were in our separate spaces and we were under an umbrella that we actually called a different business name at that point. We did one craft show and there were zero sales. It was so bad, but I was like, ‘I’m just going to keep doing this. I like baking, and it gives me something to do.”

“I kept posting and posting and posting and working on my social media presence, which is mostly on Facebook right now, and as I continued to do that, I got more and more interest,” Lax added.

Lax continued to get more and more inquiries and orders for her baked goods, leading her to apply for a booth at the Titletown Night Market.

“I had to figure out while still working the whole time, ‘How do you stock for a farmers’ market?’” she said. “I went the first night with one six-foot banquet table full of cookies and muffins that I made and I was like, ‘This will be great for four hours.’ And it was great, for like an hour and a half.”

Lax said demand was high for her baked goods, which are all free of both dairy and gluten, but her home kitchen wasn’t a dedicated gluten-free space, meaning there was still some risk of cross contamination — a risk that is eliminated in her new space.

“In my facility, I do not allow products with traditional wheat flour of gluten, so that means a lot of time spent reading labels and doing research and checking that the facilities [I purchase ingredients from] are dedicated gluten-free as well, so that way the product that I’m using are coming from somewhere else that doesn’t have that risk for cross contamination,” she said.

And not only does her new storefront eliminate concerns about cross contamination, it also will allow Lax to begin baking goods she couldn’t bake to sell from her home kitchen.

“I really am looking forward to the creative freedom that I can have in this kitchen,” she said. “Under Cottage Law, as a baker, you’re restricted to certain things for food safety purposes. Being in this kitchen, I can incorporate cheeses and fruits and vegetables and my own frostings and things like that. Having my own space to be able to do that and support the gluten-free community better and more broadly is something that I’m really looking forward to.”

In addition to gluten- and dairy-free baked goods, Lax’s new storefront will also include space for local vendors and artists to sell their products as well as coffee and other beverages for a “cafe vibe.”

“I really want it to be a ‘just come and chill and be unbothered’ space, but also I will talk for hours if you need that interaction,” Lax said.

See Let It Bake’s Facebook page for more information.