SHEBOYGAN, Wisc. — Sheboygan's Hi-Lo Bakery on Historic 8th Street is usually filled with the sounds of music and dough-making, but it's gone quiet in the last month or two.
A TMJ4 viewer wrote in after he noticed his favorite product — hard rolls — were nowhere to be found on grocery store shelves.
A quick drive by the building would show you an "Available" sign on the outside walls. Owner Zach Norman has closed up shop and I went to go see why.
Watch: Sheboygan mourns a lack of hard rolls at Hi-Lo Bakery:
“I believe the business is in a good spot to pass it on to someone else," he told me.
Certain family circumstances required him to pull away from the bakery life.
One of the main reasons he said he wanted to provide an explanation is "people are going to go crazy without their hard rolls!"
Hi-Lo is known for its hard rolls which, in Sheboygan-style, are indented buns tossed in corn meal — crusty on the outside and fluffy on the inside.
“I’ve always loved baking. It’s something I’ve always loved to do," he said, noting that he learned everything he knows while working at a bakery throughout college.
As a Sheboygan County native and lover of local hard rolls, Norman made sure not to change the recipe when he took over Hi-Lo in 2022.
“Years ago I would’ve said it’s just bread, but no. Not around here, not to the customers in the area. It’s just not," he explained. "You can’t find something like this almost anywhere in the country. I believe it’s the best hard roll in the state.”
The bakery dates back to pre-World War II times. It's carried multiple names under several owners but it's always prided itself on having high quality goods at low prices...hence the name.
During Norman's run, he said he was conscious of maintaining tradition but came in with ideas of expansion. He brought Hi-Lo goods to Manitowoc, Two Rivers, Appleton, Green Bay, Madison and Milwaukee.
He also re-opened the store-front area for the first time since the 90s so people could come in to interact and buy extra fresh items.
"You’re going to load the shelves and there’s people waiting for your stuff," Norman remarked. "Their dads, their parents used to work here in the 40s and 50s. They would come here when they were little kids."
He said without the customers and staff, Hi-Lo wouldn't be the Sheboygan name brand that it is.
But now, it’s time for him to prioritize family and pass the baton to someone else who also wants to carry on the bakery tradition.
"I would turn off the lights and I would leave and I would always feel accomplished. And I always felt privileged. I think we're blessed to be able to do this."
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