Regina’s The Everyday Kitchen a rare story of pandemic prosperity

While many businesses have struggled throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, one Regina bakery has prospered to the point where the owners plan to open a new location.

The Everyday Kitchen, which serves doughnuts, coffee and other confectioneries, has seen consistent growth since it opened in September last year.

Even once the novel coronavirus hit the province, customers were still loyal and supported the business.

Owner Mark Shmelinski says he’s grateful to the community for supporting his local shop.

“(It feels) overwhelming. It’s encouraging. In our business plan before we launched, we planned to be in this spot within three to five years. That was our goal. So, to be there in between year one and two … it’s ahead of schedule … It’s encouraging to be in that spot,” he explained.

“It was better than we expected.”

While many businesses have been struggling, his customers have been loyal and enthusiastic.

“It’s unfortunate that there have been businesses that haven’t made it but our business is fortunate enough to see growth,” he said.

Those same customers are looking forward to the new location.

“They’re really excited. People want what’s convenient for them, so another location that’s maybe right in their backyard or a lot closer to them, it just lends really well to people coming in for a coffee or a doughnut,” he explained.

He plans to be ready to open the new location in the spring of next year. It will be located at the corner of Woodland Grove Drive and Buckingham Drive, in the southeast end.

The Everyday Kitchen will be sharing the space with Dandy’s, an ice cream shop that is also opening its second location.