Baking cake and eating too!!!

Kerry Burns had to drag his wife "screaming and kicking" from her full-time job into the business that was his lifelong dream.

When Kerry Burns was a teenager, his mother made him stop delivering newspapers because he had to get up too early.

To replace his lost income, Burns got a job washing pans in a bakery. In the process, he found his true calling - a profession that has him rising in the wee hours of every morning.

Burns and his wife, Roseann, own the Town Crier Bakery in Peddler's Village, where they sell cakes by the slice, freshly baked breads and sweet pastries to tourists and locals alike.

Over the past three years, the couple has had to roll with the punches, reinventing their bakery and positioning it to succeed through these tough economic times.

"We're simple people," Roseann said. "We're hardworking people trying to make it in these crazy times."

Owning a bakery has been Kerry Burns' lifelong dream. But it wasn't one his wife shared, until he took over the bakery at Peddler's Village, the retail and dining destination in Buckingham.

"I kind of blew him off," Roseann said. "It's never going to happen. Then one day this crazy man said, 'I'm doing it.' "

Not only did he buy the bakery and quit his job as a merchandiser for a group of local grocery stores, but Roseann quit her job, too, as an elementary school assistant.

"She's a Republican, and I'm a Democrat," Kerry said. "But when it comes to business, I'm more conservative; she's more cutting edge."

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Kerry is the baking brains behind the operation. He's responsible for the counter shelves filled with cakes, pies, pastries, breads and other goods baked fresh daily.

Roseann, who entered the business "screaming and kicking," has become the public face of the Town Crier Bakery. She meets personally with every bride and prides herself with knowing exactly what a bride wants for her special day - sometimes even before the customer says anything. Her hunches are so dead on that her husband calls her the "cake whisperer."

"I found I have a creative side to me that I never knew I had," she said. "I love it."

The Burnses said they have had their share of rollercoaster rides. They were aggressive in building their business in their first year. During the second year, flour and fuel prices skyrocketed and the economy tanked.

This past year, the couple, who live in Plumstead, focused on building their local clientele base and improving their product selection. Because Peddler's Village is more of a tourist destination, they found that traditional bakery items - like fresh bread and pastries - weren't as strong sellers as items like cake slices and doughnuts.

They also hold daily deals, contests and giveaways to draw traffic. And so far, the hard work has paid off, they said.

"We feel pretty fortunate," Roseann said. "We live within our means. Our bills are being paid. We're surviving."

March 30, 2010 03:03 AM


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