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‘Change moves at the speed of trust’
October 6, 2025
HOWARD – The wait is finally over for Tara Steinhorst, owner of Three Ducks Bagel & Bread Company in Howard.
As the only brick-and-mortar food vendor in Howard Commons, located at 575 Howard Commons Place, the bagel, bread and coffee shop officially kicked off its opening with a celebration late last month, where hundreds of patrons came through the doors.
Coverage of Three Ducks’ planned move into Howard Commons first appeared in the April 7 edition of The Business News.
Now, more than five months later, Steinhorst said she’s happy everything has finally come to fruition after a long and arduous process.
“It was an adventure,” she laughed. “I wanted to open by at least mid-June – and for sure by July 1 – but that obviously didn’t happen.”
Steinhorst said a number of challenges contributed to delays in Three Ducks’ opening.
“First, our original contractor we were going with didn’t work out,” she said. “We ended up switching [to Bayland Buildings], so that put us behind a bit. Once we switched to Bayland, they were amazing to work with.”
Secondly, Steinhorst said the State of Wisconsin was slow in approving Three Ducks’ building plans.
“We had to submit all of our building plans – plumbing, HVAC, electrical, etc. – for approval because Three Ducks’ space had to be completely built out,” she said. “The only thing we had were the four outside walls of the building. There was a big delay from the state because they were so backed up. I think [our building plans] just sat waiting for approval.”
As she awaited word from the state, Steinhorst said she found creative ways to train her staff – currently at about 10 – and gave patrons samples of what was to come.
“While waiting [for state approval], nobody could physically come into the building because I didn’t have occupancy,” she said. “I was creative to get some sort of business flow and help out the staff so they weren’t so blindsided once we opened. If people wanted bagels or cream cheese, they could knock on the door and we’d get them what they wanted – they just couldn’t come inside. We offered a limited menu to get us started.”
As another means of getting Three Ducks’ name out there, Steinhorst said they gave out free samples at the Rock the Commons event in early September.
As for the grand opening, Steinhorst said she was overwhelmed with the support from the community.
“The outpouring of support has left me in awe, and I’m still soaking in the magic of our grand opening,” she said. “I’m deeply thankful for the role everyone played in making our grand opening such a resounding success.”
Three Ducks Bagel & Bread Company is open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from 6 a.m. to noon on Sundays.
