Evictions and an alleged bounced check: New Wuollet, Grandma’s Bakery owner in financial straits

After decades of building bakery and restaurant businesses in Russia, Eric Shogren started buying neighborhood bakeries in his native Twin Cities in 2016, pledging to preserve their family-owned feel while also attracting the next generation of treat-seekers.

But financial and quality issues have emerged at these businesses, which include A Baker’s Wife in south Minneapolis, Grandma’s Bakery in White Bear Lake and Wuollet Bakery locations throughout the Twin Cities area, including the former Emily’s Bakery and Deli in Hastings and Hans’ Bakery in Anoka.

The Wuollet in Wayzata, as well as the recently opened bakery in Hastings, have closed amid eviction proceedings. And a former Grandma’s Bakery employee said in a claim filed in Ramsey County District Court that their paycheck bounced. Meanwhile, customers at multiple locations have complained that the quality of the baked goods has suffered since the change in ownership.

In an interview Tuesday, Shogren said he’s working to reopen the Wayzata and Hastings Wuollet bakeries. He said he didn’t know specifics about the Grandma’s Bakery paycheck claim but said, “If we have any issues like that, everybody always gets paid, of course, fairly.” He largely refuted complaints about the quality of the baked goods, saying patrons might instead be reacting to a different array of products than they were used to before he bought the bakeries.

“We’re really working hard to make our business successful,” Shogren said. “We’re trying to be part of the solution here.”

Shogren returned to the U.S. about a decade ago from Russia, where he founded the bakery and coffee shop chain Kuzina. He also owned a restaurant chain selling New York-style pizza. He said Tuesday that he still has “interests in Russia” but did not offer specifics.

Shogren’s Twin Cities bakery purchases have typically come as longtime owners retired or chose to take a back seat in the operations. He bought A Baker’s Wife in 2016 and the 75-year-old Wuollet chain in 2019. More recent acquisitions include Grandma’s, Emily’s and Hans’.

Quality complaints have proliferated online, from customer reviews to Reddit posts, starting at least as early as 2017 and continuing to as recent as this past May.

St. Paul native Joe Matt, 82, patronized Wuollet for decades and said the baked goods were always part of special family occasions, from birthdays to his daughter’s wedding. But after the chain’s sale, he said, favorite items such as giant chocolate eclairs disappeared from the display case and the quality of what remained started to decline. He recalled a particular chocolate cake, loaded with whipped cream, that was switched from fresh to frozen and then dropped from the menu altogether.

“Whether there’s somebody out there that can rescue this, I don’t know,” Matt said. “But what a shame, because it was truly an old fashioned bakery that there aren’t a lot of nowadays.”

Business filings with the Minnesota Secretary of State show most of the bakeries operate as limited-liability companies registered to Shogren and his wife.

Eviction proceedings at Wuollet in Wayzata began in January, when landlord AP Wayzata Village, LLC filed a complaint in Hennepin County District Court alleging that tenant Wuollet Bakery Wayzata, LLC had failed to pay nearly $16,394 in rent. A second filing in March alleged a little more than $8,101 in unpaid rent.

On April 29, court records show, a Hennepin County Sheriff’s deputy vacated the premises, “placing the Plaintiff in peaceful possession of said property.”

Wuollet’s Hastings landlord, Hastings Midtown LLC, filed an eviction action in Dakota County in April and a lawsuit in Hennepin County in May. The suit, which names Wuollet Bakery Hastings LLC and Eric and Olga Shogren as defendants, seeks a little more than $858,879 in rent and other costs owed, plus accelerated future rent under the 10-year lease. That case remains open.

Also in April, the former Grandma’s Bakery employee alleged in a conciliation court filing tha Shogren owed nearly $1,181 in unpaid individual wages.

“My paycheck is uncashable due to my former employer [having] no money in his bank account,” wrote the former employee, who contacted the court on April 30 seeking to close the case after settling. The employee did not respond to a request for comment.

Attorneys for the two landlords also did not respond to requests for comment.

Shogren said he’s working with the Wayzata and Hastings landlords to find a solution. While the intent is to reopen the two bakeries in their existing locations, he said, the Wayzata bakery might move elsewhere in the neighborhood.

“The communities want and deserve good bakeries and good local businesses,” he said.