Keeping an oven light on

Madison Park Bakery owners Terry and Karen Hofman recently signed a new 5-year lease, committing to keeping the nearly 90-year-old business dishing out baked goods on East Madison Street.

“I just turned 65, so I’m thinking about a long-range exit strategy for myself,” said Terry Hofman.

The longtime Madison Park bakery was started in 1929 by Ben Oppenheimer, and sold to Herman Stoll in 1945, who named it Stoll’s Madison Park Bakery. His son, Fred Stoll, would later take over the business. At one point it was located at 4220 E. Madison St., where Cactus restaurant now resides. It is now located between Choppers Salon and The Original Children’s Shop, at 4214 E. Madison St.

When the Hofmans were approached by Fred Stoll about taking over the business so he could retire, they were certainly reticent, Hofman said.

“We both worked for Boeing, and my wife and I met at Boeing,” he said. “I kind of got disillusioned after 11 years.”

Terry Hofman ended up leaving the company, and Karen Hofman was later laid off. At 40, Hofman said he didn’t have much experience when it came to baking.

“Well, I guess I did know how to bake Pop Tarts,” he said.

Fred Stoll stayed on for six months to train the Hofmans, with an agreement that they could walk away from the business if it didn’t work out. Hoffman said Stoll, like him, was a first-generation German-American, and insisted on a certain work ethic.

“He ran us pretty hard at first, to see if we could do it,” Hofman said.

But the Hofmans stuck with it, and have kept Madison Park Bakery running for the past 24 years.

“A lot of things we had to change,” he said. “We cut the menu in half, believe it or not.”

Hofman said he’d like to keep working the business for at least another 10 years.

“Running a business in Seattle is tough,” he said. “It’s harder and harder year after year.”

There are slow periods throughout the year, Hofman said, but Madison Park is still a popular destination spot in the summer.

“Donuts are always popular,” he said. “I never thought we’d be a donut shop.”

Open Tuesday through Sunday, an employee clocks in at 2 a.m. to get started on the donuts and danishes. Hofman comes in around 5:30 a.m. to get everything else ready.

The Hofmans’ daughter, Sophia, is helping out now, before she goes back to college. She’s focused on psychology, but Hofman said he’s encouraging her to think about business classes.

Madison Park Bakery has seen a lot of its older customers come and go, Hofman said, and now their children have taken their place. He said it’s interesting to have watched them grow from children to adults, who then come to them to make their wedding cakes.

Where Madison Park Bakery will be when the next generation comes calling for a cake remains to be seen, but Hofman says he’s keeping his apron on as long as he can.

Find out more information at madisonparkbakery.net.

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