Bright Horizons Await Treats and Its Owners, Past and Present

A new era is rising at Treats of Wiscasset as previous owners Stacy and Ryan Linehan pass the whisk to Joseph Swifka and Emily Hughes.

Both the Linehans and Treats have been staples of the Wiscasset village since they opened the bakery on Main Street 20 years ago in what was formerly a wine and cheese store.

The couple raised both of their kids at Treats, Stacy Linehan said. She recalled fond memories of working around the kitchen with the staff, plopping their wiggly babies into giant lobster pots to free up their hands for baking. When their children grew up they found a home working at Treats too, making running the business a whole family affair.

“All of us in the family have worked here in some way shape or form in those 20 years, which is pretty cool,” she said.

The Linehans stretched their family ties to Treats back into the past as well, with many of the bakery’s quintessential recipes sourced from Stacy Linehan’s ancestry in a long line of bakers.

After 20 years of pouring into Treats, the couple is ready for new adventures, Linehan said.

She announced the sale on the business’s Facebook page on Jan. 2, saying she felt “exceedingly” proud of her 20-year run at Treats and deeply excited for the cafe’s future with Swifka and Hughes.

“This is a positive sale,” Linehan said. “People are so funny, like, I think they expect you to stay somewhere as, like, this entity for your entire life. And so, when you make a change like this, they don’t see it necessarily always in a positive light. But honestly, it just really felt like the timing was right for both Joe and Emily, and for me.”

The new owners began their journey to Treats a long time before they first approached the Linehans back in October.

“We actually first came to Treats in about 2008, which is kind of crazy,” Hughes said.

Swifka and Hughes had been camping in the area when they visited the cafe and “fell in love with it,” she said. The two had previously owned an organic farm and cafe near Flagstaff, Ariz. and, when looking for a change, remembered their love for the Midcoast.

Swifka said the pair had always anticipated they might move to the area to retire, but when the possibility came sooner, they seized it. They have lived in Edgecomb for two years now, and both worked at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay.

Hughes and Swifka come into their ownership with 30 years each in a variety of hospitality roles under their belt, Hughes said.

“We have a pretty broad experience range, but when we moved here, we knew we wanted to start our own business again,” she said.

Hughes said that their Arizona cafe, which opened just before the COVID-19 pandemic, served as a great learning experience, which the couple hopes to draw from as they navigate running and expanding Treats.

But the duo did their research locally too, Swifka said, as they got “a feel for the scene” with experiences at The Alna Store, Fuzzy Udder Creamery in Whitefield, and Broad Arrow Farm in Bristol.

“We’ve spent… the last couple years that we’ve been here, sort of working all these various places and scoping out what is needed in the community and … what would be next for us,” Hughes said. “And this is an amazing opportunity to kind of continue on with what Stacy’s built and then also to grow it.”

One of the first things the couple hopes to do is bring back a cut-to-order cheese program, with a focus on domestic cheeses to highlight “new cheesemakers doing exciting stuff,” Swifka said.

Hughes said the pair was excited to continue establishing relationships with local producers and farmers.

The big project currently in the works for the cafe is reimagining the secondary room off the bakery, where the pair plans to create an evening service area by adding tables and a bar, Swifka said. They hope to have the dining area up and running by early summer, with evening hours likely beginning as a weekend offering and becoming more frequent as possible.

Despite the exciting new projects in the works, the cafe will remain familiar, Swifka reassured the cafe patrons. The name, baked good recipes, and staff will continue unchanged.

“We’re not going to change it in ways you won’t be able to recognize it anymore. It’s going to essentially operate as it has, just with our additions,” he said. “You’ll still be able to come in and get the same things and have the same experience, plus more.”

Hughes said they were incredibly grateful that the Treats staff decided to stay on with the transition.

“They’re all lovely, wonderful humans, and so that makes us feel really good to have that support,” she said.

As a whole, the couple is happy to settle into the town’s embrace, Hughes said.

“We feel like Wiscasset is a really special place,” she said. “It’s got a lot of people, residents, and also other business owners that care so much about it… We’re really excited to be a part of that community and be as involved as possible with it and as supportive as possible with it.”

Linehan said she is open to whatever the future holds, but is planning to continue her business offering food retreats both internationally and locally, as well as potentially pursuing roles as a private chef or small business consultant.

The sale has been an opportunity to grow and reassess what really matters to her, Linehan said, adding she hopes the change can be an opportunity for the community to grow as well.

“I think change is really hard for people, especially here in the Midcoast,” she said.

Linehan said she hopes the community will “embrace change and be open to a new, fresh growth in this business, to give the new owners that grace.”

The Linehans are selling many of the cafe’s designer quality antiques to make room for the upcoming renovations. Interested buyers are encouraged to reach out by emailing to treats@treatsofmaine.com.

For more information, visit Treats at 80 Main St. in Wiscasset, call 882-6192, or find the business on Facebook.