ASHLAND – As she puts the finishing touches on her Ashland bakery storefront at 531 College Ave., Julianna Hritz radiates excitement and gratitude.
“When it actually became a reality and I stepped in here for the first time, it was crazy to think of all these little pieces of the story that deep in my heart I must have been very passionate about, but I didn’t let myself believe it,” Hritz said. “It feels like a gift.”
Vines Bakery began humbly in 2016, when Hritz started taking her baked goods to the local farmers’ market.
It was there that Hritz developed a loyal following of regulars who enjoy her cookies, cakes and signature scones. Customers began to crave her surprising seasonal flavors like lemon blueberry, pumpkin spice, gingerbread, chai pear, blackberry basil ricotta, sweet corn and peach lavender.
Now the small batch baker is supplying her scones to Downtown Perk, taking specialty orders and preparing to open a storefront where people can sit and enjoy a sweet treat along with a cup of coffee or tea.
Hritz sat down with the Ashland Source to share the story of how a dream she once stifled is becoming a reality.
Starting from scratch
It was spring 2016, and Julianna Hritz was all set to graduate from Ashland University with her degree in family and consumer science education.
There was just one problem.
“Something about it just did not make me excited,” Hirtz said. “Something in my gut was like, ‘You don’t want to do this. You don’t want to teach.'”
At first, Hritz fought the growing doubt. She wrapped up her student teaching and marched toward graduation, watching as her friends and peers start going to career fairs and applying for jobs. She felt no desire to do those things.
Friends and family from home began asking Hritz about her post-graduation plans, and panic began to set in as she realized she had no Plan B.
“I was so tired of being asked that question and not having an answer that at one point I told people I was going to become an Olympic speed walker and I was going to compete in the 2020 Olympics,” Hritz said. “I just made up such outrageous answers because I knew I didn’t want to teach.
“I felt such a burden lifted off when I committed to not pursuing that.”
Hritz, who hails from Seven Fields, a northern suburb of Pittsburgh, ended up staying in Ashland after graduation. She held an internship in the university’s office of student life, and then took a temporary campus activities job.
Rooted in passion
Meanwhile, Hritz decided to take a small step toward a passion she’s held since childhood.
Hritz grew up glued to the Food Network, but she didn’t just watch. She asked her parents for a KitchenAid mixer for Christmas, set up lemonade stands in the neighborhood and played Iron Chef challenges with her sister and friends.
“I think it was third grade that I started telling people when they asked, ‘What do you want to be when you grew up?’ and I said, ‘I want to be a pastry chef,'” Hritz said.
So in that angst-filled summer after college, Hritz decided to start bringing her baked goods to the farmers’ market Saturday mornings in the Christ United Methodist Church parking lot.
She got her paperwork together, committed as a vendor, and spent the entire day and evening before the first market baking. And then she almost didn’t go.
“I was just so tired and overwhelmed the night before that I sat on the floor and I said, ‘I’m not going. I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m a poser. Everyone’s going to think that I don’t know how to bake anything. Like, who am I to bake these things?’” Hritz said. “I was disqualifying myself from the start.”
After a pep-talk from her roommate, Hritz decided to forge ahead and go to that first market. To her surprise, she had a great time.
She continued as a vendor at the market through the 2016 and 2017 seasons, cultivating connections with local farmers who became her ingredient suppliers and building a base of loyal customers who became her regulars.
Sometimes, Hritz would sell out of certain items before 9 a.m., when the market was supposed to open.
“It was just overwhelmingly amazing,” Hritz said. “I couldn’t have imagined people would be so supportive. I still didn’t really think anything of it.
“I was just doing the farmer’s market, and I didn’t have plans to move it past that. I didn’t know what it was going to be.”
Growing Vines
The name for Vines came to Hritz long before selling her sweets seemed like a viable possibility.
She was in a coffee shop with a friend, reflecting on her dreams and desires, when the word came to her mind.
“I liked the idea of having a place where people could come and grow together and intertwine and share stories,” Hritz said.
She noted that vines were always one of her go-to images to doodle and that the plants also remind her of one of her favorite Bible passages, John 15.
“On that day, I kind of wrote down what I’d want it to be,” Hritz said. “I’d want it to be a welcoming place, somewhere where community could gather and have great coffee and baked goods and fun plates and all these different things.
‘But then I totally let it go. That was just a daydream for me.”
It wasn’t until after her second successful season of farmers’ markets that Hritz allowed herself to entertain the idea of actually opening the bakery and coffee shop of her dreams.
She received encouragement from several people in the Ashland community, including one family from her church who told her they wanted to come alongside her and help her make the dream a reality.
“This place would not have been built without at least 20 to 30 specific and important people that have either given time or resources or knowledge or emotional support for me,” Hritz said.
Hritz signed a one-year contract to rent her storefront from the Brethren Church, which owns the building and has its national office next door.
The baker views the College Avenue location near Ashland University as a starting point from which to grow. Adding a kitchen to the facility proved to be cost-prohibitive, so for now, Hritz is licensed to bake from a commercial kitchen in a church down the street and will transport a selection of her treats to the storefront.
“The plan for this storefront is to keep it mostly baked goods that you would envision in like a coffee shop — so muffins, scones, cookies, pie, and French macaroons, too — and then take specialty orders as well, like specialty cakes and cupcakes if you have a birthday coming up,” Hritz said.
While she understands this is not the most orthodox approach to a bakery, but Hritz hopes people will understand and embrace her vision.
“I’m not going to be a giant commercial bakery that can pump out 400 cookies a day,” she said. “Everything is handmade with a lot of intention. The heart behind it is that it’s intentionally small.”
Hritz is committed to working with local partners when possible. She will be brewing Goldberry Coffee, which is roasted in Ashland. She uses dairy products from Buckeye Creamery in Ashland, and she plans to serve their milk by the glass, alongside with her cookies. Her loose-leaf tea will be from Storehouse Tea in Cleveland.
“I want the menu to change seasonally, too. So if it’s summer and peaches are in season, I’d love to grab some from a local farm and use them in our scones,” Hritz said. “We use local apples in our apple pies and seasonal flavors for winter so we have a constant rotation of flavors.
“It’s not always the easiest approach, and definitely not the most cost-efficient, but I think it’s important.”
Hritz has not yet set a date to open her shop, but expects it will be in the next few months. In the meantime, she’s taking specialty orders and supplying to Downtown Perk.
When she does open her storefront doors, Hritz hopes people will stop in and stay awhile.
“What I’ve always wanted it to be is like a community dream and just someplace where everyone feels comfortable and where it feels like the best parts of Ashland that I’ve come to know,” she said. “We’re starting as small as possible to get it off the ground and then hoping to grow with the love and support of the community in whatever capacity we can.”
For more information about Vines Bakery, visit www.vinesbakery.com or fine Vines Bakery on Facebook.
