Credit: Photo via valhallabakerystpete/Facebook

A staple in St. Pete’s bakery scene is closing its doors next month, but luckily it’s not leaving The ‘Burg completely.

Last week, owner Celine Beltgens announced the closure of Valhalla Bakery (2462 Central Ave.) and the eventual merger with its smaller, neighboring concept Valkyrie Doughnuts at 2444 Central Ave.

Valhalla Bakery will remain open four days a week until its closure on Feb. 14.

After the bakery and doughnut shop merge next month, Beltgens says that it will sell popular items from both menus. Doughnuts, of course, will have a large presence on the new menu alongside Valhalla favorites like its pistachio rose bar, cake slices and cookies.

“Taking this step has been a hard pill for all of us to swallow but it’s no secret that small business is struggling like we’ve never seen before,” Beltgens wrote on Instagram. “Post Covid supply issues, ingredients and packaging costs doubling, plus the economy wrecking everybody’s pocketbooks all play into this.”

Beltgens tells Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that small business owners throughout Tampa Bay and beyond are cutting corners and turning to predatory loans just to stay afloat.

“All of our costs have massively increased across the board—packaging is up 200-300%, apps like Uber Eats are taking a huge portion of sales, and our ingredients are either in a constant shortage or are ridiculously marked up,” Beltgen explains. “Even payroll processing programs have gotten more expensive since the pandemic. I used to offer health insurance to my employees and match their 401ks, but I’ve been unable to afford that as well.”

“And pretty much everyone in town can barely afford the cost of living here, so they’re not spending money at local businesses,” she continues.

Beltgens launched Valhalla Bakery in Orlando in 2015 and debuted a second location inside St.Pete’s Baum Ave Market in 2018, eventually opening a standalone storefront a year later. Following the success of her plant-based bakes from Valhalla, she opened Valkyrie Doughnuts and vegan lunch spot Freya’s Diner in 2021.

The doors of Freya’s Diner closed in late 2023, and the Central Avenue building that housed the now-closed restaurant and Valhalla Bakery is currently for sale for $1.5 million dollars on loopnet.com.

Until Valhalla’s closure next month, the bakery will be operating with reduced hours of 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursday-Sunday.

Beltgens also says that she’s looking to close Orlando’s location of Valkyrie Doughnuts later this year, but its Valhalla storefront is slated to stay open.

For the latest news on Valhalla Bakery, Valkyrie Doughnuts and the merging of the two concepts, head to their Instagrams at @valhallabakery_stpete and @valkyriedoughnuts_stpete.

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