This week, one of Memphis’s most beloved bakeries is officially passing the whisk. Muddy’s Bake Shop owner Kat Gordon is selling the business to local entrepreneurs Micah Dempsey and Stacy Hinkle, closing an almost 18-year run that began with a small cupcake shop in 2008.
Sale details
As reported by The Daily Memphian, coverage published Thursday confirmed the sale and included a photo of Gordon with Dempsey and Hinkle at the Broad Avenue shop. The piece tracks the business back to Leap Day 2008 and notes that Gordon reshaped Muddy’s over the years as she responded to changing demand.
New owners' background
Both buyers are already familiar names in Memphis hospitality. Micah Dempsey and Stacy Hinkle co-founded Belltower Coffeehouse & Studio and helped grow it into a space that combines coffee, pottery, and an evening-hours wine bar, according to the Memphis Flyer. Their résumé signals experience in both the kitchen and the day-to-day grind of running a small business.
What to expect
Muddy’s has long emphasized scratch baking, in-person classes, and neighborhood events, a mix outlined on the bakery’s own Muddy’s Bake Shop page. That blend of daily bakes, preorders, and private events is a big part of the shop’s local appeal and will be the framework Dempsey and Hinkle inherit as they step into ownership.
Next steps
The Daily Memphian story did not include a detailed transition timeline, and the new owners have not yet released a full plan for any menu or staffing changes. For now, the handoff is framed as a local succession story, with the founder passing a neighborhood institution to operators already rooted in Memphis’s small-business scene.
