Popular bakery in downtown SLO closes — but its breads, pastries are here to stay

A bakery selling perfectly baked loaves and sugary pastries is leaving downtown San Luis Obispo.

Proof & Gather Baking Company inside the Network Mall at 778 Higuera St. has shut its doors, though owner and chef Kaitlin Ferland said slow business was not the reason.

The bakery has a larger location in Paso Robles at 3075 Limestone Way, and Ferland said she decided to close the SLO location when its lease came up and give the Tin City space some love.

“What people don’t know is the Tin City location was supposed to be the one and only bakery, but we had to build it out,” Ferland told The Tribune. “We were in construction for four years, but my business kept growing and growing, and I can’t wait that long to get into a bakery space. So I started looking for short-term leases.”

Ferland found a space in the Network Mall and moved breads, cookies, pastries and fare into the space at the end of 2021. The bakery closed four years later on June 19.

“I was like, okay, I’m just going to ride it out until this lease is up, and then just focus on the Tin City bakery,” Ferland said. “Since that was kind of the dream bakery, we built it all. We designed it all. It’s much bigger, it’s like four times the size of the one here in SLO so all of our heart and soul went into that one up there.”

The baked goods and treats are not leaving SLO entirely, however.

Proof & Gather will still be in attendance at the downtown SLO Farmer’s Market, and loaves and pastries can be purchased at the SLO Public Market, SLO Veg, Harvestly and SLO Food Co-op. Ferland said she is also expanding wholesale products as well.

“I live here in San Luis Obispo, so this is my home, and I still want to be able to be a part of this community as well,” Ferland said. “So just trying to kind of expand our products with it, whether it’s restaurants or other stores, other farmers markets, those types of things. We’ll also be looking to kind of continue to grow that side of it, since we won’t have a physical presence here anymore.”

How did Proof & Gather have its start?

From a gifted 47-year-old sourdough starter that is still being used in the breads today, Ferland got her cottage license to begin making baked goods in her home in 2020.

But she’s been baking all her life.

“I always knew that I wanted to own a bakery, and I had been developing recipes for a lot of years, and just wanted to give it a try,” Ferland said. “I started out of my house just doing farmers markets, and eventually just started growing, and went into a shared kitchen and started doing some more catering and a little bit of wholesale.”

Ferland opened Proof & Gather’s first brick-and-mortar at the end of 2021 in downtown SLO, and later opened its second location in Tin City in July 2024.

“This has been a culmination of a lifelong dream,” Ferland said. “It took so much hard work. Bakeries are not an easy business to be in. It’s long, long hours, early mornings, a lot of physical labor. All of my time and everything went into opening this and it was such an ‘I did it’ moment.”

What’s new at Proof & Gather’s space in Tin City?

Now that it’s getting some attention, the Tin City location of Proof & Gather is expecting some big changes, Ferland said.

The bakery’s menu is expanding to include more made-to-order items and a full espresso bar with homemade syrups and sweeteners.

Baking classes and tasting experiences will also be introduced in the fall, Ferland said.

“We’ll have certain bakery or bread items that are paired with different coffee drinks and things like that,” she said. “So people can come in and not just get one item and run out the door, but sit down and have a little tasting experience.”

For more information

For more information about Proof & Gather Baking Company in its Tin City location, visit its website or call 805-286-4099.

This story was originally published July 6, 2025 at 5:00 AM.