Time to put away the bathroom scale again. Stimmel’s Market on West Wooster Street will reopen its bakery
on June 25 at 6 a.m.
That’s good news to fans of the site who voted its doughnuts the "Best in Wood County" five
years running through the Sentinel-Tribune’s annual summer survey.
Owner Bill Stimmel announced the reopening on Thursday. "We’re going to start small," he said.
"We’ll focus on the bakery items we make from scratch, the doughnuts, cakes, pies and sweet goods.
"If things go well after the first several weeks, we’ll look at probably opening the deli. …
That’s our plan."
Returning to fry the delectable doughnuts in the wee hours of the morning is Mark Strausbaugh. He has
served the bakery for more than 20 years, first when it was Tyrrell’s Market and then for the last five
years as Stimmel’s.
"He’s coming back to work Wednesday night," announced the owner. "He’ll be frying the
doughnuts the way he always did."
The bakery will be open 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays. On Sundays, the hours will be 7 a.m.
to 3 p.m.
Stimmel closed his Bowling Green store last month just days after closing his second location in
Napoleon, citing the poor economy as the reason. Even then, he expressed the hope the local store would
be able to reopen on a smaller scale and focus just on the bakery, "whether it’s a couple weeks or
months down the road."
At the time, Stimmel gave that scenario a 50-50 chance.
Fortunately for those who need to have a doughnut with their morning coffee, and for office meetings
which can’t get started without a box of bakery delights to entice groggy workers, Stimmel’s hope turned
into reality almost one month to the day. The store closed May 24 and is reopening June 25.
Helping to make it possible is a reduction in the store’s size to half of what it was at its closing.
"We’re excited. We’re excited," said Stimmel. "We’ve been able to take care of some of our
overhead and expenses. I think it’s manageable."