AMHERST — Cooped up in their homes during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, yet trying to make bread, doughnuts and cakes on their own, many people may have gained a renewed appreciation for The Henion Bakery.
At least that’s how owner David Henion has viewed the past year and a half. As a fixture of the downtown dining scene since 1993, the North Pleasant Street bakery was experiencing a surge in bread sales, and people more than willing to wait outside, no matter the weather, before coming in to order a Danish pastry, a biscotti or baguette.
“Once people were locked down they realized how much they miss bakeries,” Henion says. “The pandemic has reinforced the baker’s place in their lives.”
But even though business is as good as ever, Henion and Barbara Kline, his wife and business partner, were closing the bakery after serving customers last Saturday, bringing an end to what has become a regional institution.
“Over that period of time we’ve developed so many relationships,” Henion said as he and Kline, and son Morgan Kline, who recently returned from Marseilles, France, prepared food for a Northampton event.
“We’re very thankful. It’s all about repeat business and how to make people happy in every transaction.”
Entering Henion Bakery, through a door on which is written “breads, pastries, cakes,” one was greeted by glass cabinets featuring European-style fresh-baked goods. In addition, there was an assortment of fair trade coffee from Indigo in Northampton, as well as tea, espresso and cold drinks.
But Henion has never made sandwiches or ventured much beyond the pastries and cakes. “We wanted to do one thing, and do one thing well,” Henion said.
And he points out that “there’s nothing shabby about our offerings,” with everything made from scratch and with butter, and with what he calls European touchpoints. Aside from Henion being closed for 10 weeks during the beginning of COVID, and a period when the protein-based Atkins Diet was the rage, the bakery has always done well.
“We’re lucky Amazon can’t deliver a warm croissant,” Henion said.
The closing may not come as a shock for customers, as for several months there had been efforts to find a successor who would buy Henion and be trained by the owners. But that didn’t happen. “We would have liked there to be continuity, not that we didn’t try,” Henion said.
The decision to close also comes due to understaffing issues affecting all businesses. “The holidays are a crushing amount of work,” Henion said.
For Bennett Hazlip of Amherst, who raves about Henion’s glazed doughnuts made from fried coffee cake dough, Henion and Kline were an important presence.
“I’ll miss the doughnuts, but just as much as that, I’ll miss David and Barbara, and their approach to community,” Hazlip said. “For all the years I’ve been visiting Henion, it’s clear that they really strived to create community in that little postage stamp of a space.”
Virginia Schnurr of Amherst, a former employee, wrote a letter to the Gazette expressing gratitude, as well. “Barbara and David gave us memories to cherish and a place to create them,” Schnurr wrote.
On Twitter, Town Manager Paul Bockelman succinctly wrote, “A big loss for the town of Amherst community!”
Henion, 69, came to the region in 1979, and both he and Kline both went to the Culinary Institute of America, meeting in 1989 at the Black Sheep Deli. Kline is a pastry chef by training and Henion a bread baker, and they brought together their families from previous marriages, raising eight children and putting seven through college.
Henion has made a good life through working alongside his wife. “We worked together through thick and thin,” he said.
One of Henion’s first jobs was an apprenticeship with Susanne Naegele who ran Naegele Bakery on Main Street in Northampton and on North Pleasant Street in Amherst. He also was a pastry chef at the Swift River Inn before opening his own bakery.
Henion said he was never interested in being “bicoastal,” like Naegele’s, by operating in both Amherst and Northampton, and was also never interested in expansion. The 850 square feet, divided almost equally between the kitchen and production area and the counter and former seating, is perfect for the bakery’s needs.
The space also became home for artwork, where even in the final week assemblies were on display by Amherst artist Sanford I. Roth
Henion thanked his initial landlord, the late Everett Roberts, and his son, Barry Roberts. “Everett and Barry have been great landlords,” Henion said.
Henion said he has liked being part of what he calls the “merchant class.”
“You’re a really dynamic part of capitalism in America,” Henion said, adding that he sees the future of Amherst in the mixed-use buildings featuring apartments and condominiums being built nearby. “This bakery has been fortunate enough to be part of that.”
Henion said he remains president of the Leverett Crafts and Arts board and continues his artistic endeavors, from growing plants and carving stone.
“We’re natural makers. We’ll let this part of making go,” Henion said.
In retirement, the couple could travel to the Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec and perhaps drive to Alaska.
“We have had so much good fortune, and not selling the bakery has little to no effect on our retirement,” Henion said. “It’s done good by us.”