O'FALLON, Mo. — After more than 25 years, Heaven Scent Bakery on Bryan Road is turning off its ovens for the last time at nine o'clock tonight.
"It's kind of hard work," Bakery Owners Janet Colner and Linda Day tell 5 On Your Side. "We got decorators, we got bakers, but we don't have donut people."
And by that, the sisters mean actual employees to make the donuts.
"It's a lot of work to make a Heaven Scent donut," Colner explains, "when you hear that mixer going back there, you know it's going to be about three hours before you even see a donut."
As the two sisters round the corner of retirement, they've continued to put the hours in.
Colner told 5 On Your Side she works all seven overnight shifts every week, "in fact, we are so short-handed I am wearing the headset and doing drive-thru and Door Dash all night long."
Some employees and loyal fans talked about buying the business but had no luck.
The shop is set to become the opposite of a sweet tooth destination. The sisters said it's not a done deal yet, but that dentist has bought the building.
Sitting at a front table on Friday morning, Betty Teter and Judith Harward shared their last donuts from Heavens Scent.
"We love donuts," Betty Teter smiled. Donuts she has been enjoying since the shop opened 27 years ago.
"We'll certainly miss the donuts," Teter's friend Judith Harward told 5 On Your Side, but what she will miss most is the homey feeling of walking into Heaven Scent, "you walk in and they are glad to see you, they know what your hobbies are, they know other little things about you, so it's like going into someone's home."
As for what the sisters will do next, Day told 5 On Your Side, "We haven't got a clue."
They expect to do a little traveling and are hoping to finally visit Day's grandbaby, "I have a great grandbaby I haven't even met yet, isn't that sad, she's almost two."
The bakery announced the closure earlier this month via its Facebook page.
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