Kelley Hughes said the public response to the re-opening of Wildflours Market and

Bakery has brought plenty of excitement.

“It’s a really kind and grateful community we serve,” she said, standing in the bakery’s new retail space on Cumberland Street.

Open for just a few weeks in the former grist mill building, first constructed in the 1800s, Hughes has worked to rebuild the nine-year-old business following a fire that gutted the bakery when it was housed at 45 Maine St. five years ago. Since then, the business has grown, and Hughes knew she had to expand the operation to include a retail location, along with continuing to provide wholesale goods to about 20 businesses from Portland to Belfast.

“After the fire I just kept going forward — it wasn’t until later that I realized what a hit it really was,” she said.

After realizing she would not be able to re-open on Maine Street due to soaring rent prices, she decided to stay put on Cumberland Street and create the ideal working and retail space — knocking down office walls, lifting the ceilings to expose beams, and designing a storefront. Hughes said business counseling she received from Coastal Enterprises Inc. was instrumental in the development and financing of the expanded venture.

Hughes, a former teacher and social worker who focused on issues of domestic abuse, said she started the bakery after she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and cut gluten from her diet. She said alternative options were limited — and she was hungry for satisfying gluten free foods.

She began experimenting in the kitchen, and two years later, started the bakery and a small gluten-free grocery store. The most popular items she sells now are muffins and bread, but her personal favorites include the quiche, blueberry banana bread and the stuffing sold at Thanksgiving time.

Hughes said she appreciates the challenge of owning a business, and the ability to steer her own ship and be creative. “It is inspiring to me,” she said.

Other goods sold at the market feature local producers in the area, including Voodoo salt, a dry ingredient dressing created by baker Patty Boone that began when she needed to make quick Christmas presents, and Crossroads Coffee beans of Westport Island.

The business is family affair — the space is owned by her father-in-law, George Cabot, and everybody pitched in to do the work together. Her niece, who also worked with her since the age of 14, has earned a culinary degree and has her own business aspirations.

Hughes said being in Brunswick has created an incredible sense of community.

“I had requests and opportunities to set up shop elsewhere, but it wouldn’t have been the same,” she said.

jlaaka@timesrecord.com