Wichita’s Aria Bakery has closed, but its Normandie Center spot won’t be empty for long
Fans of the unique Persian baked goods served at Aria Bakery, which was open in Normandie Center, 6476 E. Central, from September 2019 until earlier this month, were sad to learn that the bakery was closing. Its owners, Omid Hashemi and Mahshid Alipour Hashemi, announced last month that they were closing the bakery because of “family obligations and the need to move.”
But the Aria space won’t be empty for long.
Marilyn Ramsey, who owns River City Sweet Shop with her husband, Bill Ramsey, said she is moving the bakery into the Aria space right next door. When she does, she’ll be back in the spot where her previous bakery, Sweetly Scrumptious, operated when it first opened.
“I love the fact that we are going home, so to speak,” she said. “It has a much nicer store front and it’s larger. It’s already got nice flooring and is painted nicely too.”
Marilyn said she’ll take over the space on Oct. 1 and gradually start moving. She hopes to be open in the new spot by Nov. 2 and plans to celebrate her grand reopening with a come-and-go event on Nov. 6.
Sweetly Scrumptious first opened in Normandie Center in the fall of 2010, and in 2019, founder Kellie Knowles added the Ramseys on as partners. In June of that year, they moved the business to the Prairie Village Shopping Center at 13th and Woodlawn, near the Candle Club, but Knowles soon decided to leave the business, and the Ramsey’s got a new partner and changed the bakery’s name to River City Sweet Shop.
A few months later, though, they decided to move the bakery back to Normandie Center and take over the former Seafood Shop space, right next door to Aria. River City Sweet Shop has operated there for two years now.
The bakery, which is now owned solely by the Ramseys, sells logo cookies, cupcakes, cakes, cake balls, cake pops, pies and homemade pop tarts.
Marilyn Ramsey said she’s happy to be moving only one door over, especially since this will be the bakery’s third move in two years.
“This is going to be it,” she said. “I’m not making any more moves for a while.”
This story was originally published September 20, 2021 at 12:38 PM.
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