Firkins' owner blown away by 'unbelievable' love and support following much-loved bakery's return to the Black Country
‘You’re gonna need a bigger store’ is the message Firkins’ owner Rob Green has been getting loud and clear since bringing the famed former bakery back to life in the new West Bromwich Indoor Market Hall.
Unsurprisingly there were long queues on opening day, on Wednesday August 27, as customers old and young waited patiently to get their hands on classic treats brought back for tasting with the opening of the new Firkins stall.
Customers have been queuing from 8am each day to enter the market which opens at 9am - only to have to wait another hour for the bakery to open as staff have needed an extra hour to cook up hundreds of cakes, tarts and buns last tasted before the original Firkins bakery shops left the high street in 2015.
The brand and its recipes were taken over in 2020 by businessman Rob Green and his team who have kept the Firkins name alive through an online business selling celebration cakes and ingredients.
What happened next, however, he could never have imagined.
Customers have been literally pouring through the new market hall doors to get their hands on some of the business’s classic treats such as pineapple tarts and lemon iced buns.
On Friday alone, the team baked 500 pineapple tarts and just 20 were left at 4pm as Rob took a break to chat to the Express & Star about the runaway success of the new market stall in West Bromwich.
He said: “It’s been unbelievable. There’s been no let up but I’m so grateful for the support and so thankful for the customers for their patience. The fact that they’re still supporting us and still coming back. The feedback’s been fantastic.
“They're coming in and they’re telling us it's exactly as they remember it.”
He said some of the original recipes have been tweaked slightly as some of the ingredients are no longer available but he added: “We’ve stuck as close as possible to most of the recipes.
“Making so many cakes from scratch on a daily basis isn't easy even though we’ve been in the background for 10 years and manufacturing cakes for other bakeries, as well as doing celebration cakes and confectionery items online.”
The new venture has seen one new full-time job created so far with three more to come and further part-time positions still left to fill.
The demand for cakes has been matched by the hunger of people keen to work for the iconic brand - Rob says he received 700 applications after the first advertisement seeking staff to work in the bakery.
