New owners take over at Tradewinds Bakery
After more than 32 years of making donuts and other baked goods in Rogers City, John Thomas will finally be able to hang up his apron and retire.
This is possible because a Rogers City couple decided to purchase Tradewinds Bakery.
“I would not have sold it if it was not going to be a bakery,” said Thomas, a day after the deal closed with Aaron and Sarah Romel.
Thomas has run Tradewinds for 32 ½ years, but baking for a half a century.
The Navy veteran, who served from 1982 to 1985, was a baker on the USS Nimitz.
Additionally, he was head baker at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing for more than seven years and worked for the Dawn Donuts food c
“I’m looking forward to not making another donut,” he said. “I am going to be 71 in January, I’m burned out.”
“We plan to keep doing things the way he has for 30 years,” said Aaron Romel, “And then expand on it and add more products and services.”
One of the new services could be selling cakes in 2021.
“Along with making some specialty donuts,” he continued. “Some other specialty items – we don’t want to give away all our secrets yet.”
Both John and his wife Carol agreed to provide as much training as possible to Sarah, who will handle most of the baking.
