This feature was made possible through a partnership with the Milwaukee Public Market, which is celebrating 20 years of making community in our awesome city.

The story of C. Adam’s Bakery began years before the doors of the Milwaukee Public Market ever opened. Lisa Crum spent years experimenting with her own line of scratch-made bakery items before eventually launching a wholesale bakery she named Sweet Perks. The bakery featured a full line of her recipes for cookies, brownies, scones, muffins and more which she sold to local businesses including Larry’s Market, Colectivo Coffee [Alterra at the time] and Stone Creek Coffee. 

After operating as a wholesale operation for three years, she opened a small retail shop in the former Kissler’s in Wauwatosa, a storefront that had been a fixture since 1961. It was a struggle introducing the area to the high-end, ingredient-driven pastries that she made. And, even though she was able to build a small, loyal following, she decided it was in her best interest to close the shop with hope of reopening at later time and different location.

“During that final year of Sweet Perks, I brought on a high schooler named Julia, who worked with me after school,” recalls Crum. What she didn’t realize at the time is that Julia would eventually become a key player in her business years later.

“When I announced I was stepping away from the business, the folks from Alterra [now Colectivo] asked if I would consult with them to help develop their own internal baking operation. That led to the creation of ABC Baking Company. I hired and trained two incredible bakers—Marisol and Blanca—and a delivery driver, developed their production systems, and helped launch the program. One of the bakers from here, Marisol, would later become one of my head bakers at C. Adam's for 12 years.”

From there, she also moved on to manage Cookies by Design in Greenfield and consult and bake for Cedarburg Coffee Roasters, a business that would serendipitously become the first coffee vendor in the Milwaukee Public Market.

The day everything changed

“In 2004, I got a phone call that changed everything,” says Crum. “Brian O’Malley reached out and told me that Wendy Baumann had recommended me as a potential vendor for a new concept: the Milwaukee Public Market.”

The idea for the Market originated with conversations among a group of local civic and business leaders in the early 90s, but Crum says it was strongly championed by Wendy Baumann of the Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation (WWBIC) and Einar Tangen, the president of the Historic Third Ward Association. Both were inspired by visits to places like the Pike Place Market in Seattle and hoped to bring a similar destination to Milwaukee. As the project reached its development and fundraising phase, Dick Wright, a retired Northwestern Mutual executive, also played a major role in pushing the project forward.

Crum says that she’s positive that C. Adam’s Bakery would never have gotten off the ground without Wright’s help.

“His belief in what I was building and his efforts to support this Market made all the difference. WWBIC had helped me with my first loan for Sweet Perks, taught me how to write a business plan, and mentored me through many tough seasons. But when Brian asked if I wanted to reopen my bakery in the Market, my answer was an easy and immediate ‘Yes.’”

Bringing C. Adams to life

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Around the same time, Crum’s first nephew, Connor Adam, was born. 

“Seeing the world through his eyes gave me a different perspective, one rooted in joy and memory,” she says. “So I named the bakery C. Adam’s Bakery, in his honor, with the tagline: ‘Making American Memories’.”

Crum says that being selected as one of the first three vendors was an exhilarating experience. She recalls working with Fein Brothers who helped her with the layout of her stall and created the beautiful custom display cases that would show off her beautiful bakery.

And she recalls the outdoor markets that they hosted the summer before the Market opened that gave them a real place to train staff, earn income and offset some initial costs.

But it was the opening of the Market that she remembers the most vividly.

“That final 24 hours was a frenzy,” she recalls. “My team and I got the cases ready to be filled, prepped product, decorated cookies, finalized packaging, and made sure every detail was ready. The energy was intense but electric. 

“That morning, I walked up to the second-floor window and looked out onto Water Street. It was shoulder-to-shoulder people as far as I could see. Over 25,000 people came through the Market that weekend. Our space was nestled between West Allis Cheese and the Soup Market, with a band playing outside our back window on St. Paul.

“That weekend was magical—and exhausting in the best way. The Market was alive with energy and excitement. Customers lined up, asked questions, and shared in the joy of something new. It was a weekend I’ll never forget.”

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Building a great market

During the first couple of years, C. Adam’s Bakery remained on the eastern side of the market. But, as vendors moved in and out, there were opportunities to transition into larger spaces. In the case of C. Adam’s, they moved into the space that originally held Piacentine's Artisan Bread and a portion of Lakeside Poultry.

“The first few years were tough,” says Crum. “But I had an amazing team and that helped. Part of it was also that I was stubborn and I didn’t want the place to fail. The Third Ward was changing at the time, and the Market was trying to figure out what Milwaukee wanted from it.

In those early days, the bakery sold breakfast items like croissants, danishes and brioche buns. They also sold cheesecake, cupcakes, brownies, tiramisu and a wide variety of sweets. But Crum says that “Cookies kept the place running.” 

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“I loved every day that I was there, and I was there every day. In the beginning, it was rough, but even the hard times were good to me. And I can credit our success, in part, to my mom, Mary Crum. She was there every step of the way. She worked there on weekends. All the employees loved her and C. Adam's would not have been there without her help and support.”

Crum says that one of the greatest strengths of the Milwaukee Public Market was its management team, which began with a crew including Brian O’Malley, David Ware and a host of others who handled everything from parking and cleaning to running the upstairs kitchen and events.

“David Ware, in particular, stands out as one of the most incredible, kind, hardworking, and caring people I have ever known,” she says. “He was the one I called more than anyone if I needed something—and he was always there, even in the middle of the night. His imprint is all over the Public Market. He has been there from the very beginning and has never let up. His consistency, heart, and quiet strength made a profound difference not only for C. Adam’s but for every vendor who was lucky enough to work alongside him.”

She also credits Paul Schwartz, a longtime employee at the market who worked his way up to the role of Executive Director.

“His thoughtful leadership, dedication to vendor success, and calm problem-solving approach helped shape the culture and stability of the Market during pivotal years. Paul always took time to listen, support, and champion small businesses—and that had a direct impact on our growth and ability to thrive at C. Adam’s. Later, leaders like Alison [Enders] and Ryan [Litsheim] also played key roles in its continued growth. I truly believe their support was essential—not just to the Market as a whole but to our individual success at C. Adam’s. I thank them all deeply for their efforts and dedication.”

Serious decisions

After 12 years of operating the bakery, Crum says she discovered that she had health issues, and they began to impact her work.

“We had won multiple Best of Milwaukee awards, and it finally felt like I could breathe,” Crum says. “But my body had taken a toll. I was diagnosed with an autonomic neurological disorder that I was getting treatment for, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep up the pace. I had multiple surgeries that I never fully recovered from—always coming back too soon. And my joy was slipping.”

But there was one thing Crum knew for sure, and that was that her team was incredible. 

“I was fortunate that I had great employees, and one of them was Julia,” she says. “She’d been through the situation with Sweet Perks and she’d been through everything with C. Adams. And she was exactly who I wanted to take over. I believed in her completely. She loved baking, she was incredibly creative and I knew she would make the best decisions and care for the business the way I did. So, two years before I planned to leave, I approached her and asked if she would be willing to learn the business so that I could sell it to her.”

Block recalls the day that Crum approached her about taking over the business.  “At the time, I was pregnant. But I was also very passionate about the business and I was really grateful for the opportunity. So, I told her that I would and I went back and really concentrated on learning the ropes of running the business.”

But, as time passed, Block says she began to wonder if she should consider partnering with someone. 

“Taking on a partner wasn’t really on my radar, but as it got closer it seemed like a good idea. I had three kids and I really didn’t want to take the bakery on by myself. So, I looked around at the people I worked with. Some people are skeptical of having business partners. But for me and Chelsea, we really play off of one another's strengths.”

Seeing the two partners working together made Crum feel even more confident that she’d made the right decision.

“Chelsea is such an amazing person—creative, loyal, hardworking, and passionate about baking. I remember thinking: This is perfect.”

Unexpected careers

“The Milwaukee Public Market was more of a grocery-style experience when I started working there in 2008,” notes Julia Block, who has co-owned C. Adams Bakery with Chelsea Freundorfer since 2018. “I knew Lisa [Crum] because I had worked for her at Sweet Perks while I was in high school. After I graduated from Marquette University, I ran into her at the market and told her I missed working at the bakery. I asked if she had any openings.”

It turns out she did. Block didn’t expect to be there for the long haul, but she says it had always been a fun place to work and she was excited to change out her monotonous office job for something more lively.

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“The bakery was always a really fun work environment,” she says. “We had great people working there. Cookies were always Lisa’s thing. She invented the original C. Adams ‘Big Cookies’ and the chocolate chip cookies have always been one of our most popular items.”

In 2015, Block hired Freundorfer as a baker. Freundhofer had earned a Journalism degree from Loyola in Chicago. She had a food blog, a job at Starbucks and a part-time writing for the Journal Sentinel. But she was looking for a change of pace. So, I worked at the bakery in the morning and kept writing part-time for the first few years.

“I loved the job right from the start,” she says. “It was fast paced, creative. There was always something new to do. And I ended up staying far longer than I thought I would.

"By the time Julia approached me about taking over the business with her, I was pretty excited. I had never envisioned becoming a bakery owner; but I’d been working at the job for a few years already and I really liked it.”

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A new era

It was 2018 when they took over full operations of the bakery. One of the first things they added were macarons. “Macarons were crazy popular at the time and everyone wanted them. We also added a few other things including sandwich cookies and decorated cookies.” 

Over the years, a few things have changed; but Block and Freundorfer kept the staples including Big Cookies, regular cookies, cakes (including carrot cake, red velvet cake and chocolate mousse cake), and cheesecake. They also still carry macarons, at least five flavors at a time that are changed out seasonally.

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“It was such an ideal situation – to be a part of a business and then take it over and be able to hit the ground running when we already knew what we were doing,” says Block, noting that it was one of the things that allowed them to open their second business, Black Twig Bakery, together in June of 2020. 

“And we’re really grateful to be in this market and to have all of the great employees that we have,” says Freundhofer, noting that their great team was a big part of how they made it through the pandemic. “Business was slow, but we’ve made it through.”

“There’s such a great energy here,” says Block as she looks across the Market. “It’s always bustling and people are always here having fun and doing my favorite thing, which is eating food… “

Freundhofer says she can’t think of a better job that she’d want to have.

“Having a bakery is just fun,” she says. “It’s all about occasions like birthdays and celebrations. Even if someone is sad, we’re making something that will cheer them up. And I think that the way the market has developed over the years has really been perfect. People eat and then they look for something sweet.” 

Block nods in agreement. “We’ve done well here. The Third Ward has grown so much over the years. We have such a great staff. The people who work here are people who are passionate about what we do. They work really hard and they genuinely care about the product that they’re putting out. 

“Even more, we feel so honored to have been able to keep this going. Not only were we able to keep the bakery going, but we’ve had the privilege to watch as the market has become a true destination.”

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Looking back

Years after leaving the business to Block and Freundhofer, Crum says she has no regrets.

“My heart will always be in that place,” Crum notes, emotion hanging in her voice. “And I very much miss it. I adore Paul [Schwartz] and David [Ware] and Azmi [Alaeddin]. They’re still a huge part of my life. But I’m so pleased about how things turned out. Now Julia has three children and Chelsea has two and they’re all a part of the family now. It ended up in the right hands.”

Crum says she remembers others who wanted to put their names into the hat to buy the business, but she didn’t have the confidence that they would keep the spirit of the business going.

“I knew that Julia and Chelsea would carry it on, love it and take care of the team. I knew they would change what they needed to make it their own, but they would keep the same joy going. And I have never been prouder of what they’ve accomplished."

Crum pauses, an emotion-filled smile spreading across her face.

“C. Adam’s was never just about me—it’s about building a team and a community. My heart and soul will always be there, but I couldn’t be prouder of what it has become and what the Market has become. I can’t wait to see what the next 20 years bring.”