Sometimes a closure has nothing to do with bad business.
First Bite, the tiny Richmond bakery cafe known for its chubby chiffon cakes and custom cartoon birthday cakes, has officially closed after five years.
The shop’s last day of operations was May 6, 2026, with the closure announcement going up on Instagram on May 1.
Owner Mona later shared a longer video on Red Note explaining why.
Business was not the problem. She said one month earlier this year actually came in 145% ahead of the same period the year before.
The issue was everything else.
Mona described five years of custom-order baking as exhausting, with rising ingredient and labour costs eating into already thin margins.
She talked openly about burnout and a stretch of depression that started last year, and said pretending to be fine in public on top of running the shop had become harder than the work itself.
“I don’t think I can be trapped in a small shop for the rest of my life,” she said in the video.
The shop was only a little over 700 square feet, and Mona said the kitchen had hit its production ceiling.
She had been quietly looking for a larger space closer to Vancouver since the Mid-Autumn Festival last year, hoping to transform the concept, but never found a unit that worked.
First Bite opened in 2020 at 5951 Minoru Boulevard in Richmond, growing into a regular destination for tiny chiffon cakes, shortcakes, chubby macarons, soft buns, and custom birthday cakes designed around cartoon characters and pop culture aesthetics.
The cottagecore interior, with lace tablecloths, white shelving full of figurines, and a small bay window seating area, gave the shop a storybook feel that matched the desserts.
The custom birthday cake business was a big part of the brand, with regulars returning year after year for new themed designs.
Mona said the First Bite brand itself has not been sold and the closure is only for the storefront, the lease, and the equipment.
“Maybe one day we will meet again in a different form,” she said.
This is less a story about a failed bakery and more about the reality of small custom food businesses right now.
Long hours, rising costs, and slim margins, often quietly pushing skilled operators out of the industry.
First Bite now joins a growing list of recent Richmond closures, including Fok Po Tong Yaohan, Taikoo Yummy Food, and Grandma Liu Hot Pot.
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Address: 5951 Minoru Boulevard #153, Richmond BC