BRIDGEWATER — Anita Staton of Anita’s Decadent Delights Bake Shoppe is in the trenches of transition and so is the bakery.

The business will close the store after April and become a homebased business, due to changes with those that operate the bakery.

Anita’s Decadent Delights Bake Shoppe, at 510 N. Main Street in Bridgewater, is a full-service bakery offering specialty cakes, pies, cookies, cupcakes, doughnuts and more according to the company’s Facebook page.

The bakery parking lot is typically full of vehicles of individuals looking to satisfy their sweet tooth needs. As individuals enter the building and open the front door they are greeted by the smell of sweetness. There are colorful macaroons, cupcakes of every flavor, as well as doughnuts, pies and so much more.

However, there is something different about the bakery this month. The parking lot is empty, the bakery display case is gone and there are signs on the front door that read, “We will not open for walk-in sales. Please call and place an order for pickup. Thank you.”

Staton, the owner of the family run bakery, said she has been receiving many calls from people wanting to know what is going on with the bakery.

Staton operates the business with her sister and two daughters, Sarah and Katt. There have been a lot of transitions within the family, according to Staton.

Staton’s sister has been battling breast cancer for five years and working at the bakery has become more of a challenge for her. Therefore, Staton said she needed to cut back on some hours at the bakery.

Staton’s youngest daughter, Sarah, works in the storefront of the business helping with walk-ins and purchases. She was married in January and moved out of the area and is unable to continue at the bakery, according to Staton.

Katt, Staton’s older daughter works in the back kitchen baking along said Staton. She has a busy schedule and is a mother of two preschool children and her husband works third shift, according to Staton.

Staton said there is a lot of juggling to get everyone to the shop to make sure customers have their baking needs met.

Staton goes to work at midnight to get doughnuts started for morning customers. In addition, sometimes Sarah would spend the night at Katt’s house to help with her children so they could coordinate schedules to get into the bakery by 5 a.m., according to Staton.

Then in October 2023, Staton said she had a stroke.

“God is good, and I had full recovery in two days,” Staton said.

Staton went on to mention that she did not need further treatment, but the doctors did tell her to cut back on her activities.

“Everything kind of hit us at once,” Staton said. “I had felt for a while that it was time for me to retire … then when all this stuff happened it just kind of confirmed it for me.”

Staton has been in business for 47 years, 25 years as a home-based bakery and 22 years as a storefront bakery. Staton said her first bakery was Chestnut Hill Bakery in Lynchburg and she sold that bakery and opened Anita’s Decadent Delights Bake Shoppe 14 years ago.

Anita’s Decadent Delights Bake Shoppe will remain up through April. Customers can call the bakery at 540-828-3155 to place orders for pickup at the store, according to Staton.

Starting in May, Staton will be the only worker at the bakery, and it will transition to a home-based business. Customers can call the same number or contact her on the bakery’s Facebook page. Orders will then be picked up at her home in Mount Crawford.

“I feel like I kind of lost everything at once. I lost my business, and I lost my daughter,” Staton said.

During this transition period in her life, she remains hopeful about the future.

“God is good, and he has truly blessed [me]. I give all credit to him on everything,” Staton said.