Do You Remember the Buttercup Bakery in Grand Rapids? Where Did It Go?

Here is a good question for you. Do you remember Buttercup Bakery? Better yet, what ever happened to them?

For those who remember, Buttercup Bakery was a west side bakery staple for many years. People would drive from all over for their delicious baked goods.

Buttercup, owned by Arnold Sonneveldt Jr., flourished on Grand Rapids west side as he  grew his retail part of the business by bringing his baked goods into local grocery stores.

But Arnold wanted to expand even further, so he took on a partner, a young Swedish baker from Chicago by way of Sweden. His name was Arne Fahlen. By then, Arne was actually a research and development guy for Awrey's Bakery out of Detroit.

Arne had wanted to own his own business by the time he was 40 and this was his opportunity so he dove in and by 1972 Arne and Arnold decided to open a restaurant, their first. They called it The Old Mill, and it was in Rockford. Ahhh, it's becoming clearer now, right?

Flash forward eight years and they opened another restaurant in Breton Village and named it Arnie's Bakery and Restaurant.

Eventually, the Buttercup name was dropped as the Buttercup Bakery and Arnie's merged to become Arnie's, Inc.

Arnie's opened a few more locations, Eastbrook Mall, now Centerpointe, and in Wyoming, along with the landmark restaurant on Leonard, NW, just down the street from the bakery. What a fun place that was, but sadly it burned down in 2009.

The Arnie's Bakery products are still much loved and still in many grocery stores, and of course at the bakery, on Leonard on the west side.

However, times changed and the Arnie's family, knew they had to change with it. They totally reimaged their restaurants to become the Beer City Bread Company. They still have some of Arnie's food favorites and desserts, but now have full bars as well.

A great blast from the past.