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“We don’t need that here. That’s not the attitude we want here. That’s not the space we want to create, so goodbye,” recalled Natalie Hug, the owner of Hearth & Hug Bakery.
Signage outside the Hearth & Hug Bakery outside Davis Square in Somerville. Josh Reynolds/The Boston Globe
After an online “troll” criticized a Somerville bakery for donating a portion of its sales to a local food bank amid the Minnesota anti-ICE protests, the bakery’s owner said she wanted to shut any type of bullying down.
“Okay, bye,” recalled Natalie Hug, the owner of Hearth & Hug Bakery in Davis Square. “We don’t need that here. That’s not the attitude we want here. That’s not the space we want to create, so goodbye.”
The bakery, which began in Boston Public Market, opened in the former Q’s Nuts space on Highland Avenue in November. Since then, Hug said her brick-and-mortar bakery — with flakey croissants and savory danishes, coffees, and sandwiches — has been bustling, barring a historic snowstorm last month.
During a nationwide shutdown of some businesses to protest federal immigration enforcement Jan. 30, Hug declined to close her business, citing the need to support her staff and her fledgling business that’s new to Davis Square. Instead, she said the bakery would donate 10 percent of the day’s sales to White Bear Area Food Shelf in Minnesota.
A self-proclaimed customer, who Hug said was likely “a random troll on the internet” who had never been to the bakery before, then reached out.
“You just lost my business,” the alleged customer wrote. “Did you do anything for the communities that lost young lives to the illegal aliens that are here destroying families. I doubt it! Shame on you, stay in your lane & just bake!!”
“Bye Bridget” merchandise from the bakery. Natalie Hug
“Bye Bridget!” Hug replied, according to screenshots of the interaction she posted to Instagram. Her intention wasn’t to dox the person, Hug said, but instead to highlight a lack of accountability.
“People really don’t realize that there are people behind this, that these things that she’s saying and the things that she’s doing are affecting real people,” Hug said. “You’re not talking about one person in particular, you’re talking about this attitude that people have this like sense of entitlement, or whatever it is, that they feel like they can just say and do whatever they want and there’s no consequences.”
After joking with her staff, Hug launched “Bye Bridget” branded tees, stickers, and even a baby onesie and will also donate some of the proceeds to charity by the end of the month. (Hearth & Hug still sells its other bakery pun shirts and mugs.)
“That’s what made her so mad in the first place is that we’re donating money to charity,” Hug said. “But, what can we do? We can donate more money and have something that’s kind of humorous for all of us and seems to be humorous for other people.”
Charity is not new to Hug’s mission. For years, she has donated a portion of the sales of her “Charity Pastry of the Quarter” to different organizations. Right now it’s LUCE, the volunteer group tracking ICE sightings statewide, but Hearth & Hug have supported nonprofits supporting immigrants, LGBTQ+ youth, and ending homelessness.
“When it comes to issues like this, I feel like if you’re doing what you can, if somebody’s doing something and is trying, then that’s important. That’s what matters,” Hug said. “All of us are trying in whatever way we can, to do something and to give back.”
Molly Farrar is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on education, politics, crime, and more.
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