Bakery expanding nationwide

Wonderland Bakery, a Newport Beach sweet shop founded by the mother-and-daughter team of Sondra and Allyson Ames, will not be just a local treat much longer.

The bakery announced Friday that it has partnered with Errand Solutions, a Chicago-based concierge company, and plans to open more than 100 locations across America this year.

The locations would not be retail stores but rather concierge services in hospitals and other corporate sites that allow employees to shop at work.

Sondra Ames, who founded the business with her daughter two years ago, said the owners had expansion in mind from the beginning.

“We always knew that our brand was going to be larger than one location, and we continued to build and create with a nationwide and an international philosophy with everything we did,” she said. “A Wonderland in Japan would just be all the rage.”

The bakery announced its partnership with Errand Solutions Friday, but the companies began working together earlier this month when Wonderland started a concierge service at the Irvine pharmaceutical firm Allergan.

Wonderland is expected to roll out new concierge locations at 10 hospitals in California and New York in March, with about 150 locations to follow nationwide this year.

Lynnda Purcell, the concierge manager at Allergan, said the Wonderland items had increased business at her department in the last few weeks. The bakery provides cookies, gift baskets, greeting cards and more for the concierge service.

“I notice a lot more buzz on campus,” Purcell said. “We have a lot more foot traffic coming to the lounge.”

Other planned concierge locations for Wonderland include St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco and a number of New York hospitals. The bakery’s retail store is at 1314 Bison Ave. in Newport Beach.

Visit www.wonderlandbakery.com for more information.

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at [email protected].