麻豆社国产

After 22 years of baking sweet and savoury treats, bakery is closing its doors in Squamish. 

Husband and wife duo Patricia and Wade Yendall kicked off 2025 by breaking the news to their customers and friends on social media. 

鈥淲e kept putting it off; we were dreading making the announcement because 鈥� well, what do you say and how do you do it,鈥� Patricia Yendall told The 麻豆社国产.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been 22 years here in 麻豆社国产and we are moving, which is the main reason we are closing, but it鈥檚 also time for us to go on an adventure and move into the next stage of our lives.鈥�

The Golden Crust experience

Prior to opening Golden Crust, Yendall was a pastry chef working at a variety of hotels all the way from Whistler to New Zealand. 

But it was the little home bakery she started in 2003 that opened the door to locals鈥� hearts鈥攁nd stomachs. 

鈥淪ome of our long-term customers would remember going there and picking up their baked goods,鈥� she said.

鈥淭hen a few years later, we moved to this spot, and [we鈥檝e] been here for 17 years,鈥� she added, of their 5-38924 Queens Way location.

鈥淚t鈥檚 funny because a lot of people don鈥檛 know us because we don鈥檛 have a sign on the road, so we kind of call ourselves the secret pie shop because we are tucked away in this old building in the industrial park.鈥�

Throughout those years, Yendall, her husband and two children, Vanessa and Jaxon, would sell their baked goods at a number of markets along the Sea to Sky, including one of the very first 麻豆社国产Farmer鈥檚 Market (before it was named that).

鈥淲e were one of the original 麻豆社国产vendors but we haven鈥檛 done this one in the last five years. Back then, there were like five people, and it was called the Wild Cherry Market,鈥� she said.

Since then, pocket pies, fruit pies and butter tarts have been the best sweet sellers for Golden Crust, with the chicken and vegetable pie being the savoury favourite. 

Highlights over the years

As you can imagine, there are plenty of highs and lows to be had over 22 years of business, but the top thing Yendall cherishes the most is the relationships made with the community.

鈥淐hristmas and Thanksgiving are a highlight for us [in the store]. People are always so happy to come in and get good home-baking style goods. They鈥檙e always so appreciative and thankful at those times,鈥� she said.

鈥淎nd with the markets, the highlight was the relationships we built with customers and vendors. Just to be able to please people and make them happy, it鈥檚 why we work so hard.鈥�

Another key moment for them was when they shared their kitchen with Norwegian baking company Din Baker during the 2010 Winter Olympics.

鈥淭hey approached us because they were looking for a space for their bakers to bake bread for their team, and they liked ours. Then they sent all their ingredients over and filled our whole loading bay with Norwegian flour and all kinds of stuff,鈥� Yendall said.

鈥淚t was pretty fun because they baked for our store, and they didn鈥檛 want any money for it. They just said, 鈥榃e鈥檒l bake bread, and you can sell it,鈥� and they were very generous. 

鈥淭hey taught us to bake their bread, and we continued making it for a while, but we stopped because we didn鈥檛 have the equipment for it, and we were doing it all by hand鈥攁nd my hands were killing me from it.鈥�

What鈥檚 next?

Yendall said the plan is to relocate, most likely to Vancouver Island to pursue an 鈥渋dyllic next stage of life.鈥�

鈥淲e will probably move to Vancouver Island because we want to stay on the coast, and our son lives there. I want a garden and to grow food and have some acreage鈥攋ust a different type of lifestyle,鈥� she said. 

The duo plans to take a year off work to transition to life out of 麻豆社国产and will spend a portion of that travelling and adventuring.

鈥淲e want to visit friends and family and go on a road trip across Canada and visit friends overseas,鈥� Yendall said.

鈥淏ecause when you鈥檙e working like we have been, when everyone else is off, we鈥檙e not; it鈥檚 the opposite, so we never get to see family during the holidays and things.

鈥淪o we are going on an adventure.鈥�

While they currently have no plans to open up a bakery on Vancouver Island, Yendall did say she plans to keep baking for people.

鈥淲e want to have our own property with our own kitchen. Maybe one day during the week, we would let people come and get pies or something, but we wouldn鈥檛 do a seven-day-a-week bakery. 

鈥淢aybe we鈥檒l do a local farmers market, who knows.鈥�

One thing they are looking into is releasing a cookbook.

鈥淲e may do a recipe book in the future with our Golden Crust story and recipes,鈥� she said.

A community send-off

Golden Crust will keep producing products until the end of January, but after that, they will be packing up shop and selling whatever goodies they have left. 

For those wanting to say goodbye in person, their last day of business will be Feb. 15, where they鈥檒l host a drop-in day for the community.

鈥淚t will be a customer appreciation day where people can drop in all day, and we will have coffee, tea and goodies,鈥� Yendall said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 so people can just come and have visits with us because we have good relationships with a lot of our customers.鈥�

Yendall said the reaction from the community to their impending closure has been heartwarming.

鈥淧eople have been sad, but they鈥檙e very happy for us, which makes us feel good. They鈥檝e just flooded us with comments on Facebook about how much they valued and appreciated us over the years,鈥� she said.

鈥淥ne thing about the people of 麻豆社国产that we love is that they appreciate the fact that we want to live a life, and they understand the benefit of just living and not just existing.鈥�

Reflecting on her business experience in Squamish, Yendall said she is most happy that they added value to the community. 

鈥淚 think that was all we could have asked for. I know my husband was thinking we should have done more with the business and made a coffee shop or something similar, but I told him, 鈥業 don鈥檛 think you realize what we鈥檝e done鈥攚e鈥檝e added joy to people鈥檚 lives,鈥欌�� she said. 

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I'll ever stop trying to please people; that won鈥檛 ever change because that鈥檚 what I love to do. So anything that happens in the future, hopefully people will come.鈥�

Grab one of the final treats from Golden Crust. The store is open Tuesday to Saturday between 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.