It’s the start of the work week after a long weekend your craving sweets before class, have no fear Vinman’s has you covered. Located just south of campus on the corner of East University Way and North Walnut Street, Vinman’s Bakery has been serving freshly baked goods to the Ellensburg community since 1999. Now, Vinman’s Bakery has expanded their business into what used to be the G&T’s Hawaiian Shave Ice hut, located on the same corner as the bakery.

Jeff Klindworth has owned Vinman’s Bakery since 2014. His dream was to own a business. Although Klindworth is an Ellensburg local, he had never stepped foot into Vinman’s until the day he began inquiring about buying it.

“I fell in love with it immediately,” Klindworth said.

Being next to CWU gave the store a lot of everyday traffic. Klindworth looked outside of the Vinman’s Bakery window and began to think about how he could expand his business.

“If we moved our big coffee machine out there and stocked it with our goods and got the signage out there… Anybody that goes through that intersection if you look that way, [is] going to see our sign,” Klindworth said.

According to Ginger Marsicano, general manager of Vinman’s Bakery for the last two years, the main goal of the expansion is to attract students walking past the coffee hut on their way to campus, or going in and out of the south campus residence halls, Kamola and Sue Lombard.

“We want to get people walking by and show to them that we can feed you something different we do something excellent.”

“We have a lot of first time people, but most of our clients and customers [have] known us. They know what we do, they’re familiar with it,” Marsicano said.

The new Vinman’s Bakery coffee hut had two soft openings Oct. 19 and 20 and will sell fresh baked goods and coffee produced from Cafe Vita, which is located in Capitol Hill, Seattle. The tentative hours for the new coffee hut are Monday-Saturday 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.

According to Klindworth, the hours and the goods sold at the coffee hut could change depending on customer feedback. Vinman’s Bakery does not offer student discounts.

“We are not a bargain bakery. We’re trying to make the best loaf of bread, the best pastry, the best cookies and bars you’ve ever had so that doesn’t lend itself to discounts,” Klindworth said. “That being said, anybody that’s ever been in this bakery on a regular basis has probably gotten a free item or two along the way… If a customer is a good customer then we try to go out of our way to make sure that they know that they’re welcomed and appreciated.”

Key menu items at the bakery include fifteen different types of bread and a wide variety of pastries such as prosciutto and cheese turnovers, sticky buns, fruit Danishes, croissants, bear claws, muffins, coffee cakes, cookies, bars and scones. All menu items are made fresh daily. The entire staff, including Marsicano and Klindworth, come in every morning around 3 a.m. to get the process started.

Meghan Gilbert, a graduate student in the experimental psychology department at CWU, grew up in Ellensburg. She is no stranger to Vinman’s Bakery but has only been inside a couple of times. According to Gilbert, she never needs to go directly to Vinman’s Bakery  to still eat their goods.

“I don’t necessarily have to go to Vinman’s because if I’m like at an event or over at a friends, they’ve went and got Vinman’s and brought it over,” Gilbert said.

“People love Vinman’s,” Gilbert said. “Anytime you’re going to get baked goods or a scone… if you really wanted something good and quality, you’re going to Vinman’s because they’re the best in town.”