Hewn Bakery In Evanston To Open Second Location In Libertyville

EVANSTON, IL — After moving into a larger location in the midst of the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the owners of the artisanal Evanston bakery Hewn plan to open the first satellite location later this year in Libertyville.

Hewn co-owners Ellen King and Julie Matthei first opened their doors in Evanston on Dempster Street during the summer of 2013. Six years later, with the help of a Cook County property tax break, they purchased a building on Central Street allowing them to expand their capacity — even as their grand opening came amid enforced closures associated with the COVID-19 virus.

"It's been two years of pivoting and trying new things and doing new things and thinking outside the box, all of that," Matthei told Patch.

"I think the one constant, though, that we have had from the shutdown to now, is the support of the community, which has been what has buoyed us in times that were even more stressful, as these two years have posed so many challenges, not just COVID-based but just the world," she said. "The customers have been wonderful supporters and our customer base actually grew during the pandemic as opposed to contract."

Hewn's Libertyville satellite location, currently in the permitting phase, is expected to open later this year at 348 N. Milwaukee Ave.

The 940-square-foot space will not have the full range of products that are available in Evanston, but it will have a good sampling of a range of items, Matthei said.

The business partners had been planning on opening another suburban location for a while to get closer to patrons who travel from afar, Matthei told Patch.

"We have a lot of customers who come up from Chicago, obviously, but we have a lot of customers who come from the northern 'burbs, western 'burbs, they drive 45 minutes, an hour-and-a-half each way to get to us to get the bread that they've grown to love, and other items," she said. "So we actually have a good contingent of people up in Libertyville, and in that area, Vernon Hills, Lake Forest, Mundelein, even southern Wisconsin, who come, and we thought this might be an interesting spot."

The Hewn owners had discussed various locations with building managers and real estate agents, and the stretch of Milwaukee Avenue between East Church Street and East Broadway seemed ideal, Matthei said.

"We were looking at a whole bunch of towns, but then when this property came up it was like, 'Oh this seems perfect, because it's right on the main street there,'" she said. "It seems like it's a really business-friendly suburb, a nice community of people who want and appreciate good food. All of those factors came into play."

Matthei said she and King decided to move away from their wholesale business, which, after initially drying up during the pandemic, allowed the operation to expand in the new location. But wholesale margins are narrowing as production costs become increasingly prohibitive.

"We made that decision to kind of reorient our business a little bit in ways that I think will be better for the business going forward and better for customers in general," Matthei said.

"You have to really look intently at your books and say, 'Well, what's really making sense here?'" she added. "As hard as some of those decisions are to make, it's been good for us to kind of get back to our roots and figure out what those next steps will be for the bakery, in ways that are best for our staff and for the community at large and for the business as a whole."

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Currently, the business has about 30 employees, and the new location will likely mean at least a half-dozen new positions.

"We're going to be producing all of our product at our space in Evanston and we're going to be delivering it up there in the morning, so there's not going to be bakers up there," Matthei said. "It's going to be baristas and front-of-house staff, and so we'll be hiring a few more bakers and pastry chefs in the weeks to come, but they will not be up in Libertyville, they'll be up in Evanston."

Matthei said the reaction to news of Hewn's northern expansion has been overwhelmingly positive. She also emphasized how grateful she and King are for the support from their local customers.

"We're excited to expand our reach a little bit," she said. "And, you know, it's because of the community in Evanston, the surrounding communities around here, that we've been able to push through this pandemic and get to a point where we can start doing what we had wanted to do originally."