Quixotic Bakery to close its downtown Rockford shop after 6 years in business

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Quixotic Bakery will close its retail shop at the Indoor Rockford City Market in mid-April as the owner scales back her workload into semi-retirement.

Owner Judy Johnson announced Wednesday plans to close Quixotic, 116 N. Madison St., on April 19 after six years in business. Its cookies and other treats will still be available at Starlight Theatre, the upcoming outdoor Rockford City Market and potential pop-up markets.

“We’d love our customers to still support us and help us get to our closing date successfully, and then just keep looking for us,” Johnson said in a phone interview.

More business: 2 sushi and Asian fusion under the same management close in Rockford

You can learn about its pop-up markets by subscribing to Quixotic’s text updates by texting “JOIN” to 833-244-9141, or follow its social media.

Johnson said she will continue to contract with City Market to use its commercial kitchen space for wholesale product. She also plans to get a cottage food license to bake from home for pop-up events.

Johnson started the bakery as an effort to hire young people to help them gain job experience. She said her current staff is now either finishing high school or has already graduated, making it fitting time to end the brick-and-mortar version of the shop.

“My passion was always working with young people. That’s probably what I’ll miss most is that interaction with them,” she said. “I also really loved interacting with our customers, having conversations about what’s going on in their lives and being support for one another in the world.”

She also said running the shop was increasingly difficult with less foot traffic since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and increases in costs ranging from food to supplies and labor. Her husband, Steve, with whom she co-owned the bakery, died in October 2023. All of those things played a role in her decision to close and semi-retire, she said.

Quixotic began in 2011 as a ministry at Grace Lutheran Church with a goal of providing youth with employment skills and an opportunity to earn money for mission trips. It joined the Rockford City Market lineup in 2016 and the North End City Market in 2017 before opening the retail shop at Rockford Indoor City Market in 2019.

The bakery’s popular items have been its variety of specialty cookies and its cake served in individual 8-ounce jars.

Special orders will still be available at quixoticbakery.com or by calling 815-391-3513.

Rockford Indoor City Market is still home to Bop Bop Korean BBQ & Rice Bowl and Crust & Crumbles. Velvet Robot Coffee Lab left the space next to Quixotic in December 2023 and opened in May in Roscoe.

Quixotic Bakery | Hours and location

Where: 116 N. Madison St., Rockford

Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday; closed Sunday and Monday

On the web: quixoticbakery.com

Contact: 815-391-3513; quixoticbakery@gmail.com

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas