Name of business: Olde Tyme Pastries

Type of business: Bakery

Location: 2225 Geer Rd., Turlock

Hours: 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday

Contact information: 209-668-0928

Specialty: Decorated cakes

History of business:

Turlock residents are well aware of Olde Tyme Pastries’ reputation as one of the best sweet stops around, but now the news has traveled statewide with the shop’s recently-earned title of Sweetest Full Line Bakery in California.

The recognition comes thanks to Olde Tyme’s participation in Dawn Foods’ annual Sweetest Bakery in America Contest, which calls on dessert lovers far and wide to cast their votes for over 1,000 bakeries across the United States.

“It’s quite an honor. There are so many good bakeries in California,” Olde Tyme owner Terri Coonce said. “We were all so excited and watching the scoreboard just about every night.”

This year marked Olde Tyme’s third year taking part in the contest. The longtime Turlock business was named the sweetest bakery in California during their first year participating in the competition, Coonce said, but there was no recognition for the feat. There were a few changes to the contest this year; the bakeries were split into three categories, including full line bakeries, donut shops and cake/cupcake shops, and there are now prizes for the shops that win in their respective states — like Olde Tyme.

Thanks to being named the best full line bakery in the state, Olde Tyme will receive access to an exclusive tips and tricks webinar in addition to a personalized plaque and pre-designed social media templates.

This is key for a business that’s been open for nearly 40 years, Coonce said, and prioritizes keeping up with trends both online and in real life. This connection to customers, coupled with favorite sweets like Olde Tyme’s pineapple cream cheese coffee cake, contributes to the community’s everlasting support, she added, and votes in the contest.

“It’s all thanks to our customers, and we want to thank them,” Coonce said. “I think winning just shows that we really try to provide quality and freshness, and we really try to keep up with new, inventive ideas and stay up to date. People get bored instantly, and if you’re not on top and constantly making new stuff, you’ll struggle.”

From trendy cakes with artistic toppings to cookies that reflect the time of year, Olde Tyme makes sure its desserts are unique no matter what the occasion is.

“You always want new customers, but you want to keep your old customers, too,” Coonce said. “We please the older customers we’ve had for 40 years by keeping the things they like, and we keep up with new customers by bringing in new products and off-the-wall ideas.”

Since voting began for the competition over the summer, Coonce has seen a number of new faces enter Olde Tyme and even more first-time customers since the shop won. To celebrate the win, the bakery is not only thanking customers through a variety of advertisements, but also will feature its sweets on the cover of the December/January issue of 209 Magazine.