From teenagers looking for a place to study, parents who need a spot to take their kids for a few hours, or people just looking for a sweet treat, Bee Hill Bakery on Bucklin Hill offers a safe space to be. The bakery has a classic menu of coffee, tea, and energy drinks, a rotating menu of specialty beverages and lunch items, and a variety of pastries and baked goods. Owner Angela Hosking has built the business from the ground up, starting with just an idea of the type of environment she’d like to build.
“Ever since I was a child, I wanted to have a little bakery cafe,” Hosking said. “I just never had the financial ability or the bravery to start it. Then I just decided one day, I’m going to do it. So I started looking for retail space. This was the only space that was in my budget…I didn’t have money for contractors, so I bought materials, and I just started painting and seeing what I could make out of it.”
Ever since the opening in February of 2025, the bakery has grown and evolved. Hosking set up the space with intention, having a row of cozy chairs, as well as one long central table.
“I wanted [to keep] community in mind when I built this place,” Hosking said. “I wanted a place where people could come and talk to their neighbor again, meet new friends, reconnect with each other after a long time where it seemed like we’re getting very disconnected. So that’s why I did the long community table. I also wanted space for people to be able to play board games, so a big table like that is helpful.”
Despite offering quite a bit of seating, there was still a lot of space left in the bakery. Hosking then decided to offer a small market area, where local artisans can set up and sell their wares. This space holds a variety of crafts, from handmade cards, crocheted animals, soup mixes, and many other goods.
“I have a lot of space here that I definitely wasn’t going to be able to fill up with cookies,” Hosking said. “So I was like, ‘how can I fill all this space and make it purposeful?’ So then I thought, ‘well, what about having a little market in here where people from my community can sell their handmade or created items?’ And, do it low risk, because I don’t charge them any rent to be here, so they can kind of see if their craft has a market.”
Another important piece to creating a community oriented space was the team Hosking built. She hired a small staff, including Wesley Ward and CKHS student Micah Boike, to create drinks, make lunch orders, bake the goods, and interact with the customers.
“There’s a nice, good, small team here that works together and works well,” Ward said. “And I think that Angie has created a welcoming environment for the community and for the employees alike.”
Growing slowly over time, Bee Hill Bakery currently has a large customer base and often sells out hours before usual closing time. This growth was mainly through word of mouth between community members, as well as through social media marketing.
“[It’s grown] through social media, because we have an Instagram, a Facebook, a TikTok, all the places, and Angie, … she posts things all the time,” Boike said. “I feel like it will attract nicer people, because if someone sees something nice on Facebook, they’ll be like, ‘okay, I’m gonna go see that nice thing.’ …I also think that good people attract good people, so if someone nice finds this nice place, they’ll invite their nice people.”
With the popularity of the bakery in mind, Hosking has considered opening another space. She hopes to offer a community to a wider range of people, as well as allow those who travel far to more easily access their goods.
“Honestly, I envisioned this being the only Bee Hill Bakery there ever was,” Hosking said. “But now that I’ve seen how much the community needed it, I do want more spaces. But I would like them to be in different parts of our community, maybe Port Orchard or Poulsbo or Bremerton, so people who are traveling here from those places have a spot to go that’s closer to them.”
Hosking is continuously working to keep building a space for her community, and the community has responded by showing up. The popularity of the bakery is a testament to where people want to spend their time, as well as to the success of Hosking’s mission.
“I originally thought this was going to be a very low-key place that was quiet, just a few customers each hour,” Hosking said. “It has not been that at all. It’s been very busy. It gets really loud in here. We have hundreds of customers. It’s just evolved into something where we’re trying to change our operations and our output to match what the community has told us they need. They want spaces to hang out, they want spaces to meet neighbors, and play games with their kids, and just grab a coffee and a sandwich while they’re at it.”
