Port Clinton community rallies to support new bakery

Sheri Trusty
·3 min read
Drew and Jen Gatliff stand with their children, left to right, Asa, Hayden and Oakley, inside the yet-to-be-finished Yellow House Bakery. The Gatliffs have launched a crowdsourcing campaign to help fund the last stretch of the construction project.
Drew and Jen Gatliff stand with their children, left to right, Asa, Hayden and Oakley, inside the yet-to-be-finished Yellow House Bakery. The Gatliffs have launched a crowdsourcing campaign to help fund the last stretch of the construction project.

PORT CLINTON — There is an often-asked question swirling around Port Clinton: When is the Yellow House Bakery going to open?

Unfortunately, it has become a question that owners Jen and Drew Gatliff are asking themselves. Unforeseen expenses and delays, many of which are due to COVID-related price increases and supply issues, have brought the bakery project to a virtual standstill. After gutting a downtown Port Clinton building to construct the bakery, the Gatliffs have run out of funds in the last stretch.

“We’ve accounted for all our construction loans,” Drew said. “We didn’t anticipate having to take it to the bones like we did.”

The Gatliffs found a creative way to fund the building project which gives the community a chance to invest in the much-anticipated bakery and receive a fun return on their investment. Yellow House Bakery has launched a crowdfunding campaign which provides donors with perks including merchandise, baked goods and bakery experiences. The campaign will help the bakery open sooner.

Port Clinton community rallying to support bakery

“It was either wait until we generated enough money with our home baking business and income from my regular job, or do this,” Drew said. “The way I see it is, we’re deferring our costs until we have better cashflow when the store opens.”

The campaign, which was launched in mid-June, has already garnered huge support. Local residents and businesses are rallying around Yellow House Bakery and enjoying perks like t   T-shirts, coffee mugs, or a one-year supply of cookies or cinnamon rolls, which is a Yellow House Bakery favorite.

“Businesses have been very supportive and excited,” Drew said. “Some businesses have preordered from us for business use. One Realtor bought cookies for a year.”

The Cookie Creation/Baking Party perk is already sold out, but donors can still sign up for the Cookie of the Month Club or sign up to be an Official Taste Tester.

'Official Taste Tester' T-shirts

“You get a T-shirt that says, ‘Official Taste Tester,’ and throughout the year, we’ll contact the taste testers when we have a new product coming,” Jen said. “Eight times throughout the year, they can pick samples and provide feedback.”

One of the biggest perks available is the Flavor Profiling Class for 2, a unique and fun baking experience where Jen walks them through the product development process.

“I teach you how to come up with your own baked good,” Jen said. “You think of something you want to make into a cookie or cake, and we start piecing things together until we come up with a new product. That’s what I do to come up with new products. I sit down and write down different flavors and ideas because food is a whole experience.”

Drew and Jen Gatliff stand with their children, left to right, Asa, Hayden and Oakley, outside the Yellow House Bakery in downtown Port Clinton. The community, excited about the bakery’s opening, funded over 30% of a crowdsourcing campaign in the first few days after it launched. The campaign continues until mid-July.
Drew and Jen Gatliff stand with their children, left to right, Asa, Hayden and Oakley, outside the Yellow House Bakery in downtown Port Clinton. The community, excited about the bakery’s opening, funded over 30% of a crowdsourcing campaign in the first few days after it launched. The campaign continues until mid-July.

The crowdfunding campaign will continue through mid-July, and the Gatliffs hope it will provide enough funds to finish their bakery.

Some menu items available for pre-order

“Really, just the finishes are left. The biggest thing is the hood installation. We’re trying to find people to do that,” Drew said.

In the meantime, Jen is selling a limited menu of pre-order Yellow House Bakery items from home, including cinnamon rolls, pecan rolls, cakes and cupcakes. Special orders are welcome.

Donations to the crowdfunding campaign and online baked goods ordering can be made at yellowhousebakery.com. Construction and crowdfunding campaign updates can be found on the Yellow House Bakery Facebook page.

Contact correspondent Sheri Trusty at sheritrusty4@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Port Clinton News Herald: Yellow House Bakery turns to community to open doors sooner