What to know
- The Night Baker’s original storefront at 825 College St. is expected to serve customers for the final time on Wednesday, July 29.
- Owners Mitchell and Leanne Cabrera said the decision was personal as well as financial, allowing them to spend more time with their son.
- The bakery is not shutting down entirely, with its locations at 405 Danforth Ave. and 5361 Yonge St. remaining open.
- Another bakery has purchased the College Street location, but its identity has not yet been announced.
Toronto cookie shop The Night Baker is preparing to close its original College Street location as its owners step back to spend more time with their family.
In an Instagram post, owners Mitchell and Leanne Carbrera announced that the bakery at 825 College St. is expected to serve customers for the final time on Wednesday, July 29, from 2 to 10 p.m.
The closure comes after the couple spent two years operating three locations across Toronto.
A family-focused decision
While the business has continued to grow, they said maintaining all three stores was no longer sustainable while raising their young son.
“Too much time was being taken away and our baby will only be this young for so long,” the owners wrote. “So no, it wasn’t a purely financial decision but a personal one. Choose happiness y’know?”
The couple said it took them a long time to reach the decision, particularly because the College Street store holds sentimental value.
When they launched the business, it was just the two of them. But now with a new addition, the couple says they want to devote time to their son.
“We know this is the best decision for us right now as a family,” they said.
Mitchell Cabrera told Now Toronto that the location also became increasingly difficult to manage after the family moved from North York to Scarborough. The drive to College Street, which once took about 25 minutes, eventually grew to approximately one hour and 20 minutes each way.
Cabrera said he regularly travelled between all three stores, spending three to four hours driving each day while ensuring the bakery’s nearly 20-person team had what they needed and that its cookies and fillings met the company’s standards. He often did not return home until 11 p.m. or midnight.
“It honestly just got a little too much and it felt like I was missing too much time at home and that schedule was not sustainable,” he said.
The Danforth location also produces approximately 90 per cent of The Night Baker’s cookie dough. Although the College Street bakery contained similar equipment, Cabrera said maintaining both production spaces had become redundant.
“It was already obvious to us when we opened our North York bakery but honestly it was hard to let go,” he said. “We had lots of memories at our College bakery but after two years and all that time spent driving, which was taking too much time away from our baby, it was time.”
The Night Baker’s story began in 2016 when Mitchell and Leanne — a husband and wife team with backgrounds in chemistry — started making cookies before opening their first shop on College Street in 2019. The Filipino-Canadian bakery eventually expanded to the Danforth and North York.
Among Cabrera’s favourite memories are meeting the bakery’s earliest customers, many of whom continued supporting the business throughout the years. He also recalled days when the team shipped thousands of cookies using just one oven and filled the small shop with so many boxes that it had to close because there was no room left for customers to walk.
“Lots of good memories with our team, past and present, who have done so much for me and Leanne,” he said. “Some very long late nights but overall just happy memories of being in the bakery and watching people enjoy what we bake and be a little happier with our cookies.”
Cabrera said customers and neighbouring businesses responded to the closure with sadness, support and understanding.
“Small business has had a rough go for the past few years, but with most small business owners, there really is a thoughtful and kind community which we are happy to be part of,” he said.
The bakery became known for its soft and chewy cookies, rotating menu and flavours inspired by the owners’ Filipino heritage.
Its best-known offering is the Ooh Bae cookie, made with ube halaya, while other creations have drawn from Filipino desserts and flavours such as buko pandan (young coconut and screwpine dessert salad), sans rival (layer cake made from cashew meringue, rich French buttercream, and chopped toasted cashews), suman (sticky rice cake), and turon (banana spring rolls).
The Night Baker is not closing entirely
Although the College Street shop is closing, The Night Baker itself is not shutting down. Customers will still be able to visit its two remaining locations at 405 Danforth Ave. and 5361 Yonge St. in North York.
The owners also addressed why they decided against franchising the College Street location. They said they receive franchise inquiries almost every week and had potential buyers interested in franchising the store or purchasing the entire company.
However, the couple said they are not ready to franchise and stressed that The Night Baker is not for sale.
The College Street space has already been sold to another bakery, though the identity of the incoming business has not been revealed. The Night Baker said the buyer will make the announcement when it is ready, adding that its soon-to-be former neighbourhood will be “in good hands.”
Details surrounding the transition are still being finalized, but the deal reportedly came together quickly, and the new bakery hopes to open soon.
For now, the couple plans to focus on improving production and expanding the availability of its cakes, particularly its popular ube cakes, which were previously offered for pickup only on limited days.
Cabrera said the family may eventually open another bakery in Toronto’s east end, closer to home, but is not actively searching for a new space. Any future expansion will come only after the business becomes more efficient while maintaining its quality.
“We’d never had a business before having The Night Baker, so even though we’ve been doing this full-time for seven years, we’re still learning,” he said. “The next step for us is learning how to grow sustainably.”
For now, the priority is balancing the remaining two bakeries with spending more time together as a family before their son begins school.
Until then, customers have one final opportunity to visit the shop where The Night Baker’s brick-and-mortar journey began, and pick up a few cookies before they’re gone.
