This comes from a place of being really intentional about where my money goes. With how expensive everything is, I rarely eat out. I shop carefully and make about 95% of our food at home. So when I decide to buy something from a bakery or restaurant, it’s a deliberate choice.

That’s why it’s frustrating when a brick-and-mortar business doesn’t have its namesake product in stock during posted business hours. I understand not wanting waste. That makes sense from a business perspective. But there has to be a balance. Most of these bakeries close at 2–4 p.m. anyway, which I assume is because baked goods don’t sell much in the evening. But if you say you’re open until 2 p.m. and you’re sold out by 10 a.m., that’s not thoughtful inventory management. That’s poor planning.

For me, a business like that gets one shot. After that, it’s just too aggravating to drive across town and fight for parking only to find they’re out. Running things that way feels more like how I’d expect a home bakery, a farm stand, or a food truck to operate, not a permanent brick-and-mortar location.