Morat’s Bakery

Morat’s Bakery is currently residing at Kitchen 242 while their new place on Terrace Street is being completed.  We caught them on a day they were making buns, lots of buns, like 90 dozen of them for their wholesale customers.  Carollee (Morat) and Dan Castle are not new to the bakery business, they have been doing this together since moving back to West Michigan in 2006 from the east side of Michigan where Dan was from originally.  Morat’s Bakery began over 70 years ago. In 1920, Frank Shramm, Carollee (Morat) Castle’s Great Grandfather, came to the United States from Vienna Austria. In 1937, after working in Chicago area bakeries Frank opened his own shop in Hart, Michigan. In 1939, just before the start of World War II, Carollee’s grandfather Carl Morat took over the Hart Bakery. In the 1940’s, Carl Morat moved the family business to Reed City, Michigan. In the 1960’s, Carollee’s father started Morat’s Bakery located in Whitehall, Michigan. Morat’s Bakery has been well known throughout Muskegon and Oceana counties for years.

For three years Carollee and Dan worked in the bakery in Mears and then decided to venture out on their own and open a bakery in New Era.  They wanted it to be different so besides the retail bakery they added music on weekends, dinners and other attractions that would help them stay open year-round.  After several years of success and so much activity they grew tired and made the decision to get back to just baking.  Right around that time the Western Market Chalets were introduced and with family in Muskegon and lots of encouragement from them, they decided to test the Muskegon market.  In 2017 they had a chalet and would sell out almost every day.  Carollee said “people were so receptive and it was very encouraging”.  With that encouragement they started looking around at buildings and knew the owner of the building at 820 Terrace Street.  They arrived at a deal and work is underway to transform that building in to a bakery that will have a drive-through window for easy service too.

When asked what advice she would give to new entrepreneurs Carollee offered a few things:  “do your due diligence, be ready to spend long hours and tap in to your resources.”  Today they both work in the business whereas in the past they had both worked full-time jobs in addition to the bakery business and that was very hard but typical of new start-ups. To prepare for their potential move to Muskegon they went through the program that GROW (Grand Rapids Opportunities for Women) offers.  The program at GROW helped them analyze the demographics, trends in the industry, figure out their financial needs and really put together a solid plan.  By being in the Western Market Chalet last year, Carollee said it helped them to create their brand in the area before making the commitment to locate in Muskegon.

Right now they are baking to support their wholesale business.  When they get in to their new place they will provide their baked goods for retail sales as well and that will include breads, buns, dinner rolls, breadsticks, donuts and specialty items too.  They will have a small seating area, serve coffee and hope to offer other specialty items like soups and dips for breadsticks.  They have ideas about other items they may venture in to once they get established.  Right now they are supplying schools, restaurants and a few other wholesale customers.

They are anxious to get in to their new space but in the mean time we enjoy the smells of their baking at Kitchen 242 and so glad we have such a space to offer.

You can reach Carollee or Dan Castle through their website or FB Page:

Find them on the web http://www.moratsbakeshop.com/
and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Morats-Bakery-327817700439/