New Bake Shop to Open in Blue Mountain Station

DAYTON – Dayton’s Blue Mountain Station will be home to a new bake shop starting July 15th when Michelle Swan opens the doors of Mama Swan’s Sweet Treats to the public during the station’s FoodStock event.

The shop will feature various baked goods, including: handmade cakes, cupcakes, cookies, cheesecakes, and other specialty deserts. Swan says they will also feature her signature sugar cookies, as well as offering wedding cake services.

All of the baking done for the shop will be carried out by Swan herself, and the front-of-house will be ran by members of her family. Swan, who has been cake decorating and baking for around 20 years, has been doing most of the preparation on her own or with her family’s help.

“I’ve done it on my own. It’s totally from the heart, all of the baking,” Swan said.

Swan became interested in cake decorating, and then baking, for around the last 20 years, starting with an attempt at making a cake for Valentine’s Day.

Other than a culinary arts program through Walla Walla Community College, Swan has been self-taught. This is especially true when it comes to the cake decorating side of things, which is expected to be a large part of the business, as the college’s program does not cover cake decorating.

Swan, who has previously owned and operated two bake shops in Dayton, decided to open Mama Swan’s after seeing an ad for an opening at the Blue Mountain Station. Upon seeing the advertisement, she contacted the owners of the Station, and things were rolling soon after.

“We were quick, we really jumped on it. We have 30 days from when we decided to buy it until when we plan on opening, and only 15 days in the space before our opening day,” Swan explained.

Everything at the shop will be made in-house using Swan’s recipes. She plans on doing almost all of the baking herself, although her husband Scott does know some of her recipes and can help out if the need arises. Her son, Travis, has been helping by setting up her social media accounts on sites and apps such as Facebook, and plans expansion to Snapchat and Instagram. Swan said that additional staff outside of her family may be hired to help with front-of-house duties come August.

The shop will be open Tues.-Sat.each week, with long summer hours spanning from 8 a.m. to 8 or 9 p.m. While prices have not been released yet, Swan said she is not planning on charging high rates, as she enjoys seeing the satisfaction from her customers instead of gouging them for large amounts of money.

“We are not charging so much. I like seeing the smile on people’s faces when they see their cake or they try their dessert. That makes it worth it,” Swan said.

There are already plans in place to feature coffee from Rey’s Roast, another local shop. Swan also stated that they may try to partner with XO Alambic, a distillery also located in the Station, to produce treats that feature their products. Mary’s Candies, another Station staple, may also be a potential future partner.

There are also plans to build a bar for people to sit with their treats and drinks in the shop, as well as free wi-fi for customers.

More information on the shop can be found on the Mama Swan’s Sweet Treats Facebook page, as well as by contacting Michelle Swan at (509) 386-9612.