Deerfields Bakery Celebrates 50 Years With Grand Re-Opening

DEERFIELD, IL — These are exciting times for Deerfields Bakery. The longtime North Shore business is celebrating 50 years of delighting local residents with its wide array of tasty desserts. In addition, the bakery is completing major renovations at 813 North Waukegan Road, with plans to reopen next week. Last, but not least, a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Deerfield Mayor Daniel Shapiro, among others, commemorating it all is planned for 9 a.m. Sept. 20.

"It's amazing to us that we're here celebrating 50 years of being in business and our goal is to be in business for the next 50 years," Adriene Philips, who has owned the bakery for the last four years, told Patch. "We're trying to make these changes and stay up with the times to cater to all the different kinds of customers that will enjoy the atmosphere of the bakery."

Deerfields Bakery offers a vast amount of items for hungry customers to buy including specialty cakes, doughnuts, cookies, croissants and many custom-made items.

"It's kind of like a one-stop shop where a lot of bakeries will only offer maybe cookies or only breakfast items," Phillips said. "We offer pretty much anything you can think of in the whole world of bakeries."

While a second location in Buffalo Grove (201 N. Buffalo Grove Road) has remained open following renovations there last year, the Deerfield bakery has been closed since Aug. 2.

Philips said the main reason for renovating the Deerfield spot is to sync up the atmosphere of the retail space with the quality of the products being sold.

RELATED: Family Traditions Keep Deerfields Bakery Growing

Prior to Phillips and fellow ownership partners, Ford Culbertson and Alex Kovacs, buying the bakery in November 2018, it was owned for generations by the Schmitt family. In 1886, Adam Schmitt opened a bakery in Germany. His son, Henry, would eventually buy a small bakery in Deerfield in the 1950s. The current Deerfield location opened in 1972. The Buffalo Grove location opened in 1993.

A location in Schaumburg, which opened in 2000, closed in 2020 during the pandemic.

"It was a challenging time [the pandemic] for us. We were able to stay pretty strong throughout the whole entirety of the pandemic," Phillips said. "It taught us how to run the business with less staff and how to be more creative. We [learned how to] manage everything better with what we had to work with. We were very lucky it all worked out for us."

Phillips said all three owners have a baking background and have worked together before. The trio bought Deerfields Bakery with the intention to turn around the business, raise the quality level and introduce a new product line to help make it into "something special," according to Phillips.

Among the desserts featured on the Deerfields Bakery's website is a showcase of the specialty products that can be made by the bakers. The custom cake catalog includes themed cakes for children's birthday parties, weddings and other special occasions. Deerfields Bakery has also recently added a European line of products like mousses, pastries and cakes.

"People will come to us for grand, sculpted and highly-decorated cakes that are hard to find," Phillips said.

Miniature pastries, designer singles, pies, as well as do-it-yourself decorating kits are available. A bevy of holiday-themed baked items are also popular.

Deerfields Bakery ships items via UPS within the continental United States. All shipped items need a minimum of four days for processing, baking and decorating. The bakery asks customers to plan ahead for shipping and account for any shipping delays that may occur, especially over the holidays.

A number of employees at Deerfields Bakery have been working there for many years, according to Phillips. She credits the team and their overall loyalty for the business's continued growth and expansion.

"We have such talented decorators that put out some unbelievable work," Phillips said. "We have bakers that have been here for 30 years. We have a lot of longstanding employees, which means everything."

For Phillips, who is originally from Chicago's southwest suburbs, living and working in the North Shore is special. She said she appreciates the bakery's customers, who have been coming to Deerfields for generations, and pride themselves on being part of a greater community. She looks forward to sharing the anniversary celebration with them, as well as the local dignitaries who will be at the upcoming ribbon-cutting.

"We feel honored that the mayor want to do this with us and show the support. It shows what a close-knit community Deerfield is," Phillips said. "Everyone [in the community] just jumps in and supports each other."

To find out more about Deerfields Bakery, visit here or call 847-520-0068. The retail stores at both the Deerfield and Buffalo Grove locations are open Tuesday through Sunday, closed on Monday. The café at the Buffalo Grove location is open Wednesday through Sunday, closed Monday and Tuesday.