This news is extra sad for me. I am a Westender in my heart and always will be. In 1972 my family moved from the West End to East Vancouver and I was a pre-teen and heartbroken. I went to Lord Roberts and how could you guys (my parents) make me leave my friends, English Bay, Denman and Robson Street, Stanley Park and home. Home was a large two bedroom apartment above the Maple Leaf Bakery. This is where I grew up. My grandmother owned the Yeastings IGA which formerly occupied the three businesses to the left of the bakery. On Saturdays, Maple Leaf Bakery would often bring us left over baked goods. After my children grew up and moved out I moved back to my beloved West End and live about a block from my old home. And now Maple Leaf Bakery is closing. I first attempted baking when I was about 7 and it was a disaster. Flour and water cookies, not a clue. Fast forward to 2017 and some 30+ years later and I bake amazing cookies. My many fans have told me this over the years. My crazy, wild dream for years was to one day own the Maple Leaf Bakery but I will never be able to afford it, not in my hometown. It was tough enough when West Valley Produce closed. They opened 3 years after my family closed the IGA. Growing up in the IGA was pretty special and I had a firsthand look at the diverse population that makes the West End so special. We are fast losing the businesses that made it special, made it home, at least it did for this West Ender. #mapleleafbakery #westend #westendbusiness #endofanera #bakery #vancouver. #yvr #vancouvercourier #risingrent (at West End, Vancouver)
