Isa Cruz

Local Mainer Kristie Freeman has always been in love with baking. While most people grew up with cartoons during the weekends, she was raised on baking shows. This sparked her passion for baking, which has grown into a successful career.

Located approximately a mile away from campus, Kristie’s Creations allows students to have a treat at any time of the day. Freeman’s business runs 24 hours a day out of a light blue shed in front of her house.

Kristie’s Creations officially began during Covid-19. Freeman was a nurse and had gotten laid off after her department shut down. She had always been told to start a baking business, as she would bake on the side for her friends and family. After the death of her first husband, Freeman made the leap to make her dreams a reality. In the midst of the pandemic, she built a commercial-use kitchen in her house—consisting of a full industrial sink, big ovens and large mixers—so that she could do custom orders.

“I’ve never done anything for myself, so I finally decided to do that, and we had a little bake sale just to let people know I was here and could take custom orders, and the bake sale just never ended,” Freeman said.

At first, the baked goods were sold from a tent, but Freeman eventually upgraded to a shed. This format allowed for her to maintain social distancing during the pandemic, but now it allows for customers to have their own personal shopping experience. There doesn’t have to be a cashier or limited hours, as the business relies on an honor system. This flexibility has allowed the business to stay open 24-hours a day. However, a setback has been the occasional theft. Freeman put up cameras in the storefront to prevent this and said that people are generally quite honest.

Freeman offers a selection of whoopie pies, cakes, pie, muffins, cupcakes, tiramisu, cannoli and more, in addition to daily specials. She also has gluten-free options that are heavily requested by the community. Freeman has since reunited with her high school sweetheart, and he now helps her run the business. They got married last weekend in Topsham and worked together to curate all of the food and cake for catering.

“Everything we make sells, and we do literally two shifts a day, from nine in the morning until two in the afternoon. We take a nap and then work nine at night till two in the morning,” Freeman said. “So, it’s just nonstop, and we can barely keep up, just the two of us.”

There are not many businesses in Brunswick that are open late, so many Bowdoin students find themselves going to Kristie’s Creations for a night visit. Even policemen, EMT and taxi drivers stop by after their shifts.

“I got the nicest message from a taxi driver, a mom who said it just melted her that she could bring something home for her daughter, because usually she works overnight and everything’s closed,” Freeman said. “It just touched my heart. So … we gotta stay open.”

Bowdoin student Lillian Tetreault ’28 visited Kristie’s Creations with her swim and dive teammates over winter break.

“It just felt like a Bowdoin tradition because it is so unique,” Tetreault said. “I had never been somewhere before where you just take what you want.”

Nick Wilkinson ’25, Alex Blackwell ’25 and Marco Stix ’25 are weekly visitors of Kristie’s Creations. They discovered the bakery around the same time their sophomore year, each through different friends.

“There is usually something different every time you go,” Wilkinson wrote in an email to the Orient. “My favorite is the Chipwich. You can tell that a lot of the desserts are made with attention to detail and care.”

Freeman said that having the Bowdoin community spread the word about the bakery has helped increase its outreach.

Freeman also offers local delivery for ten dollars, so many parents utilize the feature to send their kids treats from all over the world.

“My mom has ordered a few cakes and cupcakes for my birthdays,” Blackwell wrote in an email to the Orient. “[Freeman] delivers, which makes it really easy.”