More Than A Bake Shop
Our Bake Shop & Café is where great food meets meaningful opportunity.
Every coffee poured and pastry baked supports hands-on job training for individuals with disabilities, helping them build real skills, confidence, and pathways to employment in the community.
This isn’t a simulation — it’s a real business, serving real customers, with real expectations and real results.
Our team members learn by doing — from customer service and food preparation to teamwork, time management, and accountability. Along the way, they’re supported by experienced staff who coach, mentor, and prepare them for success beyond our walls.
The Bake Shop & Café is designed to be welcoming, warm, and part of everyday life — whether you’re grabbing coffee on your way to work, meeting a friend, or treating yourself just because.
When you support the Bake Shop, you’re not just buying a drink or a treat — you’re investing in people, potential, and progress.
Drink Coffee. Eat Pastries. Change Lives.
Location: 1003 4th Ave S, Denison, IA 51442
Hours: 7 AM-5 PM Monday-Friday | 8 AM-2 PM Saturday | Closed Sundays
Phone: 712-263-5552
Cakes • Cupcakes • Muffins • Brownies • Pies • Cookies • Bread
CDC’s 2022 Emerging Leaders Award
The Bake Shop was awarded the Chamber & Development Council of Crawford County’s 2022 Emerging Leaders Award.
CDC leaders stated, “No downtown is complete without a proper coffee shop. For many people, coffee is a daily ritual that makes their day complete, or it’s an occasional special treat accompanying a day of shopping with friends. It turns a simple shopping trip into more of an experience and extends the time shoppers are spending in our core retail district.
Denison is very fortunate to have an exceptional coffee shop located in a historic former soda fountain. Providing much more than coffee, there are also world-class baked goods, delicious sandwiches on fresh-baked bread, salads, soups, and now even adult beverages. Ran by a local human-services agency, this is not a business motivated by profits but to give its clients with disabilities a chance to grow and interact with the public.
In addition to building the coffee culture of Denison, they have also been part of the Uptown renaissance by recently partnering with the City in a groundbreaking and unconventional project. In negotiating with the City, this business cleverly occupies publicly-owned space with a brand-new beautiful patio at the main intersection of our Uptown.
With seating, plants, and those bright red umbrellas, this project made Uptown more inviting and welcoming overnight. It’s the kind of sight that welcomes visitors to get out of their cars, explore the area, and of course, spend money with our local businesses. The patio has also been integral in the new Uptown events and has enabled additional appeal with Thursdays on the Patio.
This business truly keeps finding ways to improve itself month after month, and it is very inspiring to see its journey. Please help me congratulate the Bake Shop and Hollywood Café, winners of the Emerging Leaders Award!”
