Crosby Bakery owner Hana Crosby reflects on summer season and Entrepreneur of the Year award

It has been a busy four months for Crosby Bakery owner Hana Crosby since opening the doors in her new downtown Grand Marais location in late July.

With the official opening of her new location, Crosby revived a once vacant lot and transformed it into a bustling small business scene.

Reflecting on the overall construction process, staff training, and opening of her business prior to Fisherman’s Picnic, Crosby said it’s been a mix of “Organized chaos and a little bit of unorganized chaos.”

Despite the chaos, she said the customers and the community have been “extremely excited” and “very patient.”

While her variety of baked goods hasn’t expanded since moving into the new space on Wisconsin St., Crosby said the larger kitchen and increased demand have significantly increased her croissants and scones production.

Now that her staff is trained and she feels a bit more settled, she said she intends to begin experimenting with pastries and diving back into making wedding cakes. “I love decorating cakes, and I’d love to have me more focus on that,” Crosby said.

In October, Crosby was recognized and awarded Entrepreneur of the Year by Visit Cook County and the Cook County Chamber of Commerce.

Crosby said she believes the nomination and award reflect the community’s recognition of her and her husband, Tom Crosby, for their hard work in revitalizing a small business space in the downtown community.

“I think it has a lot to do with how public we’ve been and really how excited the community has been about the business that we have brought in,” Crosby said.

In the past four months, Crosby said she has received overwhelming support and positive feedback from customers and the larger Grand Marais community. “I don’t know if many businesses get thanked, which is pretty neat.” She said all of the support, compliments, and thank you’s are finally starting to sink in.

“So I want to say thank you back to those people,” Crosby said. “We have worked hard to create a space, and I appreciate that, that people appreciate that.”

WTIP’s Kalli Hawkins sat down with Crosby Bakery owner Hana Crosby to talk about her business, how the last four months have gone, and her thoughts on winning the Entrepreneur of the Year award. The audio from the interview is below.

Kalli Hawkins November 25, 2024