Owners of Woodbury Great Harvest Bread Co. to Open Shop in Stillwater

Great Harvest Bread Co. will open Friday in Stillwater.

Lake Elmo residents Bob and Natasha Fleischman plan to bring “a savory blend of whole-grain goodness with a dusting of old-fashioned bakery hospitality” to Stillwater when they open their second Great Harvest Bread Co. location in the east metro, following the Woodbury location.

The Fleischmans hope the new bakery, located at 2510 Curve Crest Blvd., will serve as a community gathering place. And, through a partnership with Marna Canterbury of the Lakeview Hospital PowerUp program, they plan to bring Stillwater area families a healthier alternative to fast food.

Great Harvest’s menu will offer fresly-baked whole-grain breads and sweets, made-to-order sandwiches, daily soup offerings on its lunch menu and a full line of espresso coffees from Stillwater’s River Moon Roastery.

As the result of a partnership with PowerUp, Great Harvest will offer “Family Real Meal Deals,” that include sandwiches made with the bakery’s whole grain bread and a hydration station in the bakery offers healthier fruit and vegetable-infused waters as an alternative to sugary drinks.

“This partnership is very important to PowerUp because our goal is to make it easy and fun for kids and families to eat better and be more active,” Canterbury said.

Related: Great Harvest Bread Co. in Woodbury Donates 5 Percent of Sales on National Wear Red Day

PowerUp is working with the entire community to increase fruits, veggies and family meals and decrease sugar-sweetened beverages for families and kids.

“Great Harvest is a wonderful partner in bringing this idea ‘to life’ by including fruits and veggies with their kids meals and having hydration stations instead of sweetened drinks,” she said.

A hydration station is ice cold water infused with fresh flavors of fruits and veggies such as strawberry/lime or cucumber/mint.

“This makes water appealing and delicious,” Canterbury said.

Canterbury said she shared the idea of the hydration station with the Fleischmans and they loved it.

“The (hydration station) will make a big difference by offering these no sugar, delicious drinks to customers when they open, Canterbury said. “The fact that they also are not serving any sweetened soda is a big deal.”

These kind of small, yet bold changes really can help kids in the Stillwater Area PowerUp, Canterbury said. It’s exciting.

“Most unique, however, will be a community piano in the bakery where customers will be invited to stop in and play,” Natasha said. “We will offer a free drink to any of our customer musicians who want to play a tune or two. We really want to encourage an atmosphere of community and fun.”

Customers will also have access to free high-speed wireless Internet, and can watch the baking process in action as bakers knead the dough and handcraft each loaf.

Featured daily will be Great Harvest’s Honey Whole Wheat, High Five Fiber and Dakota Wheat breads. The Cheddar Garlic, Cinnamon Chip, Cranberry Orange, Artichoke Parmesan and Pumpernickel Rye breads will be on the rotating menu.

Gluten-friendly breads, a term used because of the risk of cross contamination in the bakery and not recommended for celiacs, is baked on Wednesdays, Natasha said.

If you’re in the neighborhood, stop in, and Bob says you’ll receive a free slice of bread and sweets hot-out-of-the oven.

“Our bakery is rooted in generosity,” he said, “and we thoroughly enjoy sharing our daily creations.”

Starting Friday, Great Harvest will be open from 6 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays; and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays.

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