A family-owned bakery and café that opened June 1 is quickly becoming popular in the Noblesville community.
Debbie’s Daughters, on the ground floor of 12 Stars Media, 1236 Conner St., Noblesville, has sold homemade bakery items since 2020. The bakery recently opened a storefront and is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
The bakery is named after Debbie Downs, who had 12 children – five daughters and seven sons. Jessica Walls, one of Downs’ daughters, began baking bread for people in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Everyone was calling us because they couldn’t find bread, and they said, ‘If you make us bread, we will pay you,’” Jessica said. “It started there but the dream was always to open a bakery and restaurant.”
Jessica said she and her family have always loved food and making food for each other.
“We had Sunday suppers where we would always be making food with each other,” she said. “It kind of grew from there.”
Jessica’s husband, Rocky Walls, who owns 12 Stars Media, said he bought the building knowing he and Jessica would someday open a bakery. 12 Stars Media launched in 2018.
Jessica said the dream of opening a bakery happened a little sooner than expected because of the pandemic.
“We still have a lot of young kids in our family,” she said. “We were kind of waiting for a little further down the road, but then COVID hit.”
“It gave us an opportunity to test some stuff out and do online ordering,” Rocky said.
The Fishers couple began selling bakery items from home in 2020. They opened a Debbie’s Daughters booth at the Noblesville Farmers Market in 2021.
“The online ordering and farmers market was like, ‘Hey, Noblesville community, do you want this? Would you buy bread from us every week?’” Rocky said.
The answer was yes.
“It kind of shocked us,” Jessica said. “The first week we made some things and took them to the market, and by the end of the market, we had quadrupled what we took to the first market.”
This year, the couple’s booth is twice the size of their first. They also opened the bakery and began selling at other farmers markets in the area.
“A lot of people consistently order,” Rocky said. “We have one guy specifically that orders the same loaf of bread every Wednesday religiously. He comes and picks it up and it’s been, I think over, a year and a half. That’s what we want people to think of us as – not only a place to come in and have coffee or a pastry, but we want people to think about us as their neighborhood bakery.”
Menu items include coffee, cold brew, lemonade, espresso drinks such as lattes and Americanos, a bakery counter that rotates with fresh bakery items such as biscuits, cookies, cinnamon rolls, soft pretzels and bread options, such as country loaf, rustic wheat, seven seeds sourdough, jalapeno cheddar and honey oat, among others Rocky said in the next few weeks, he wants to sell breakfast and lunch sandwiches as well.
The bakery is in a 142-year-old building with wood tones and a fireplace.
“It’s really important to us that people feel as cozy and welcome here as possible,” Rocky said. “It’s deliberate this is on the first floor of what used to be – a long, long time ago – a home. We try to keep as much of that feeling as possible. It’s not a quick place. We want people to take their time here.”
For more, visit debbiesdaughters.com.
No tipping policy
A unique aspect to Debbie’s Daughters is its no tipping policy. A sign on the counter states gratuity will be politely declined.
“The idea here is we want a culture and understanding from customers and staff and our team that a really great experience here is expected and included in what we’re doing,” co-owner Rocky Walls said. “If you feel you want to go above and beyond, we’d rather you come back and see us again tomorrow, tell a friend, leave a review or add another item to order. I’d rather send you with a cookie than take a few bucks in cash.”
Rocky said the entire staff is salaried.
“We want everyone here knowing what they are going to earn,” he said.
