The property freehold was put to auction on Friday, July 26, but failed to sell.
Baker Trevor Burt and his wife, Janene, have been running the bakery business for almost 30 years.
“The locals support us,” Mrs Burt said, “but we also get quite a lot of passing trade.”
Although the town is not on a major highway and the Hume Fwy diverted Shepparton-to-Melbourne traffic further from the town, it remains on a well-travelled route between Melbourne and Kyabram/Tatura, and for people driving west to east from Rushworth/Bendigo.
The town’s businesses also got some trade from support services attending the Dhurringile Prison, and Mrs Burt said she was disappointed the prison was going to close.
“It’s been pretty constant with the business open 362 days of the year,” she said.
The couple lived through the destruction of the building in a major fire, 21 years ago, but the landlord, Mr Burt’s father, got on with the job of reconstruction in record time.
The bakery business employs more than 10 full-time and part-time staff.
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