LITTLE FALLS, NY – A year after opening with what owner Alex Ritz has described as a nearly bare display case, Fox Tale Artisan Bakery marked its first anniversary on Saturday, August 29, with a celebration at its 407 Canal Place storefront that drew customers, neighboring business owners, and Mayor Deborah Kaufman out to mark the occasion.
The gathering doubled as both a birthday party and a thank-you to the Little Falls community that Ritz has credited with keeping the sourdough-and-scratch-baking shop afloat through its first year – a milestone she’s noted is far from guaranteed in an industry where most new businesses don’t make it past year one.
Ritz, addressing the crowd, kept her remarks focused on gratitude.
“Seeing that people said they wanted this, and sure enough, the community has kept returning and giving lots of positive encouragement and feedback – that means the world to me. It keeps me going,” Ritz said, pointing to the double shifts, early mornings, and late nights that have defined her first year running the bakery solo.
“I just want to give huge gratitude and thank you to everyone for your support.”
A mayor’s toast, and a nod to the work behind the counter
Mayor Deborah Kaufman, who cut the anniversary cake alongside Ritz, used the moment to speak to the particular grind of small-business ownership – something she said she recognizes firsthand as a longtime female entrepreneur herself.
“I know what goes into what you do, and we couldn’t be more proud of you,” Kaufman told the crowd. “She took a chance on opening a business, something she had been dreaming about. She went out and studied everything she could learn about sourdough, and everything else under the sun, to really hone a craft.”
“She thought she’d come in and kind of ease into this business, and lo and behold, Little Falls came out for her in a big way,” Kaufman said. “They showed tremendous support, and I think a lot of it has to do with her personality, the energy in this room, the fine foods – the loaves that we love, the cookies, the scones, everything else.”
The mayor also spoke to the reality of running a one-person operation, something she said she understands from her own experience in business.
“The labor that goes into it, I get it. I understand – I’ve been there,” Kaufman said. “You wake up every morning, and you do the job. You don’t feel like it, you’d rather go to the beach, go shopping, do something else – but you show up every single day. Where the energy comes from, I don’t know, but somehow you get through the day, and the next day looks better, and you keep going.”
Kaufman pointed out that Ritz has handled every part of the business herself – production, sales, marketing, and everything in between.
“In her particular situation, she’s had to create the product, do the sales, do everything – front end, back end, management, marketing, you name it. One-person show,” Kaufman said. “It’s truly amazing, and we are proud. Thank you for doing what you do.”
From a bare display case to a business planning its second year
Ritz opened Fox Tale Artisan Bakery in the former Mustard Seed space along Canal Place in August 2025, betting that Little Falls’ appetite for sourdough and scratch baking would match her own passion for regionally sourced ingredients and the stories behind them.
A Cobleskill native with childhood ties to the area through summers spent with her grandparents, Ritz brought a winding professional path – outdoor education, horticultural therapy, and bakery work in Boston – to a business built, as she put it at the time, around “the origins and community ties of food.”
The bet paid off. By this summer, Ritz said she’d gone from an opening-day display case she remembered as nearly empty to running out of room to stock it.
She’s since tested or sold roughly two dozen bread flavors, narrowed her focus toward best sellers and seasonal rotations, and begun rolling out take-and-bake frozen cookie and scone dough for customers who want the bakery experience at home.
Looking into year two, Ritz has said she’s aiming for a stall at the Utica Farmers Market, more community partnerships – including a recent collaboration supplying scones and jam for an ARC event – and continued pop-up appearances around the region, including at the Cruise Inn at the marina.
Her hours, built around a multi-day sourdough process, are expected to hold steady for now, though she’s said she’s optimistic about finding room to expand as the second year unfolds.
Fox Tale Artisan Bakery is located at 407 Canal Place in Little Falls. Updates are posted on Instagram at @fox_tale_artisan_bakery.
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Meanwhile Tokabokka went under in less than a year.
And in the meantime, someone else is already going to open another spot in that location before the end of the year. Glass half full Donnie…try it one time.