An ent-icing farewell: fans flock in droves as popular cake store closes

They came rugged up in blankets – and even travelled from interstate – to get their hands on the final slices of cake from a popular North Melbourne bakery.

Beatrix Bakes shop’s final day of trading on August 6 prompted a throng of people to queue for hours, some bearing the cold before the doors opened.

For Melissa Lei, who travelled from Canberra, it was an emotional day as she wanted to honour her mother’s memory who loved the bakery’s pistachio and lemon tarte slices.

“Mum passed away last year, and I happened to be in Melbourne that weekend, so I felt I had to go for one last hoorah and pick up some cakes,” she said.

“It happened to be Dad’s birthday as well. Dad had the lemon tarte, and he was quite emotional and teary so that was nice for him,” she said.

The cakes evoke a lot of memories; it was really nice to get the cakes and share that with Dad. It brought back Mum to us.

Ms Lei said she joined the queue at 8.20am – well before the shop’s 9am opening – and reached the front by 10.20am.  

But she said it was well worth the wait.

“It was actually really good because the couple who were behind us in the queue, they travelled from Geelong. From the start of the queue, we were chatting until we got the front.

“We hadn’t known each other before that point but ended up taking a photo together for the paper (North West City News).”

Chahat Arora from the CBD had never visited the bakery before but joined her friend to soak up the “crazy experience”, conceding “we never thought we would do this kind of thing”.

“My friend said it was closing down and this was the only chance we had so woke up pretty early in the morning to stand in the line,” she said.

Between the pair they spent about $110 to try “every single slice” – which filled two cake boxes’ worth.

“I think we finished it in two days, we couldn’t stop. It was so tasty.”

The shop opened in 2011, but after citing the “relentless stress of crisis management” over the past two years, owner Natalie Paull said it was time for a break.

But she will continue whole cake orders and is excited to bring another bake book into her fans’ kitchens in 2024.

Caption: Fans of Beatrix Bakes in North Melbourne queued for hours for cake. Photos by Murray Enders.