Spring is a time for renewal, a period of change and growth. And this year has definitely had all of that in spades for us at Luckee Dutch Bakery!

Brace yourselves. This is going to be a long post.

For those of you who are hearing this for the first time, Luckee Dutch Bakery has moved to a new location. It may be a shock to you because it was a shock for us too! Our former landlord gave us 30-days notice to be out of our old kitchen at the end of January of this year. So, that meant we had to be moved by the close of February. With such short notice, we had to scramble to find a new site right away. And let me tell you, it’s not easy finding a commercial kitchen in 30 days’ time.

We checked out locations from McMinnville, Tigard, to Tualatin, and places in between. (Several of our customers and local businesses even offered up their kitchens for temporary use. We would like to send a shout out to our friends at Coffee Cat in Newberg and Sandwich Express in McMinnville for making these kinds of overtures. We truly appreciate it.) By mid-February, after looking over several sites that were out of our price range, we were getting a bit discouraged. Then, on the last day that Luckee Dutch was open to customers, we learned of a potential site becoming available in downtown Newberg. Immediately, we inquired about this amazing development and learned that Honest Chocolates would kindly offer up their space to us even though they hadn’t planned to leave until June. All we had to do was get approval from the landlord and we could move in. This was a miracle!

But there were a few challenges left for us to deal with. Does anyone remember the snow we had in February? We certainly do. The snow seemed to always happen when we had to move large pieces of equipment, like our ovens. Mother nature seems to have a sense of humor. Fortunately, everything worked out fine as the roads were icy everywhere but in downtown Newberg.

So, it’s now March and we begin the process of getting our ovens hooked up to natural gas lines. We had asked some experts before moving in if we could operate our ovens in this new space. We were informed that it would work just fine. But no, that did not end up being the case. We needed to have a hood vent system installed before our ovens could be connected. There was no way we could afford a build-out for a hood vent system as the building has two floors with an apartment directly overhead. It would be too costly. Now, we can’t use our ovens. What can we do?

We decided to purchase electric ovens. They didn’t require a hood vent system to operate. The stackable oven set was then ordered from Texas. It took some time, but the ovens soon arrived in Oregon. We were told that they were in Portland. Then, on the day they were to be delivered, the shipping company informed us that the ovens were lost.

We were stunned. How do you lose such heavy equipment? For several days, we didn’t know what had happened to our order. After four days of silence from the shipping company, they called to tell us that the ovens were still in Texas. They had never left. This issue was quickly rectified and the ovens finally arrived in Oregon. But the shipping firm sent only one person to deliver the 1,000 pounds oven set into our building. At this point, we would like to acknowledge our neighbor from Storr’s BBQ for his assistance in moving our ovens onto our premise. Without his efforts, we wouldn’t have been able to do it.

So, this should be the end of the story, right? Nope, not by a long shot. The ovens were delivered without their legs attached. What does that mean, you may ask? Well, somehow, the four Luckee Dutch owners were going to have to lift 1,000 pounds of stackable electric ovens off the ground long enough to bolt on four steel legs. A very daunting task for people who are bakers, not football linebackers!

It’s all very laughable in retrospect, but we did manage to do the impossible. After consulting with another of our wonderful customers, Danny Easter, we lifted those monstrosities into the air with the use of shims and a jack. It wasn’t easy, let me tell you. But, finally, success. The ovens were now ready to be hooked up by an electrician.

Once the electrician came out, we learned more bad news. The ovens were the wrong voltage. We couldn’t use them after all that we had been through. Plus, the premises is limited in energy capacity, our electricity use would have to be reduced. This means we can only operate a single oven. Yes, you heard me correctly. Luckee Dutch Bakery, who produced out of four natural gas ovens, is now down to one electric oven.

With just one oven, our menu will have to be paired down. We don’t know what we can produce just yet. We have never baked in an electric oven before so this will effect our baking schedule. A lot is still unknown since we have only just begun testing but things are finally looking up.

This last week has been extremely positive for us. We have received approval from the city and the county. We just need to get approval from the state to operate our bakery in the new site in downtown Newberg. We are renovating the place and look forward to welcoming our customers into our new home.