Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The business that spurred new investment into Uniontown over the past 15 years is no longer.
New Sage Bakery closed in late September, after four years in operation. Previously known as Sage Baking, it opened in 2002 in the Uniontown Community Development (UCDA)-owned former brick saloon building on Main Street/Highway 195.
Supplying various wholesale bakery accounts across the Palouse – from Colfax to Moscow — the company also ran a café 3-4 days a week.
Del and Amy Stillwaugh of Uniontown bought the operation three years ago, and later expanded to run Daily’s Bakery in Clarkston and a doughnut-making facility in Asotin.
At the time of closing, New Sage Bakery served 15-20 wholesale accounts.
“We’re okay with it,” said Amy Stillwaugh, of the decision to shut down. “My husband was working over 100 hours a week, it wasn’t working out and we decided to close it.”
They paid rent through the end of October.
“It’s not unusual for cafés and restaurants to close,” said Dale Miller, president of UCDA. “I’m not surprised of people not being able to figure out the magic of running a small business.”
The UCDA now seeks new tenants, with four contacts already from interested parties – without any advertising. Their first priority is an experienced party to run a food service operation.
“We would like to have a café or restaurant in Uniontown,” said Miller.
No time frame is set.
“It would be nice to have a business in within 2-3 months, Miller said.
Proceeds from rent of the building to Sage/New Sage led to the UCDA building up reserves and investing in the Dahmen Barn as well as remodeling a former grocery store which now houses a tasting room for Wawawai Canyon Winery.
All that remains at the former New Sage Baking is for equipment to be sold.
What will the Stillwaughs do now?
“Get real jobs,” said Amy. “We’ll be great employees for someone because we’ve owned a business. We appreciate everyone coming in and supporting the business, but it’s a good decision for us physically and mentally.”
Events on Main in Colfax was one of the New Sage wholesale clients.
“It’s disappointing because we really like their carrot cakes,” said Kari Rimbey, Events on Main owner. Looking for a new supplier has been fraught.
“We haven’t found anything the quality of Sage Baking. Quality food is difficult to find,” Rimbey said, indicating that options in Spokane are generally too far away for the cost and volume.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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