A BELOVED bakery and Gail’s rival will close after 13 years in operation.
Manuel’s Market & Bakery in St John’s Road, Tunbridge Wells has shut to customers for the final time.
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The bakery provided everything from fresh bread, pastries, homemade cakes and sandwiches to the local Kent community.
However, it’s not the only Manuel’s Market & Bakery in Tunbridge Wells.
Sisters Maria and Alex Gonzalez also operate Manuel’s Deli & Bakery on Rusthall High Street which opened in 2010 and will remain in operation.
The pair have been keen to expand their catering business and are closing the St John’s Road store so that they can scale up their new venture and focus on the store on Rusthall High Street.
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The business was previously owned and run by their father, Manuel Carvalho, who opened the shop in September 2009, according to the sisters but when he dies in 2017 they took over.
Maria and Alex were just 22 and 25 at the time.
Alex told Kent Online: “My dad used to be a chef in London, so we grew up with the best food ever.
“We didn’t even have a microwave because he cooked everything from scratch. We used to work with him in the shop on our days off.
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“So we learnt from him how to do everything and when he died, it wasn’t such a shock to get stuck in.”
She added: “We don’t have any relatives here so it was quite hard for my sister and I.
“But we have a strong bond and can face practically anything now.”
The building along St John’s Road is set to be refurbished and kept as a coffee shop.
It has been taken over by Alex’s friends and will be called Leaf and Bean.
An opening date is yet to be confirmed.
It comes just weeks after a bakery chain which claims to be the oldest in Cornwall shut two of its 40 stores.
Warrens Bakery closed its branches in Victoria Square, Truro, and Meneage Street, Helston in late September.
The chain, which claims to be “Cornwall’s oldest bakery” and the oldest Cornish pasty maker in the world, has one other branch in Truro in Quay Street.
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Customers in Helston will have to travel to Penzance, Hayle, Camborne or Falmouth to get a pasty after the branch there closes.
Warren’s Bakery opened its first branch in St Just, Cornwall, in 1860, with its Cornish pasties and saffron cakes quickly earning fame among miners, farmers and the local community.
