The story below is from our May/June 2025 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
Photos Courtesy of Aaron Spicer.
This beloved small business is celebrating its first-ever Best of Roanoke win, taking home the Platinum title for “Favorite Pop-Up Vendor.”
It’s hard to miss the purple tent frequently set up at the Grandin and Salem farmers markets, and, dare we say, even harder to not make a beeline for it to check out what tasty baked goods Bread Run Roanoke owner and baker Julie Casey is serving up! In this year’s Best of Roanoke poll, we asked our readers to cast their votes for their favorite pop-up vendor — a brand-new category — and this community gem took home top honors.
Casey is beyond thrilled to have received this recognition. “It means a lot. Pop-ups are hard work,” she admits. “It’s just fun to serve the community [and] to see the community enjoying coming to see me as much as I enjoy going out there and doing it.”
Prior to starting her pop-up bakery business, Casey pursued a career in corporate merchandising, then spent about a decade working as a buyer and merchandiser for a small business. But even with a demanding full-time gig, she always found time to crack open a patisserie book. “I’ve been a lifelong baker since I was a toddler [and] got a lot more focused in my 20s. I started baking things that were a little more challenging.”
After having her son, Casey was looking for a way to reconnect with the community and make some like-minded friends, which led her to RunAbout Sports — the home base for a group of runners who ended up becoming some of her very first customers. “Every time we’d meet for long group runs, I’d bring a treat or something for post-long runs to refuel, or be selling granola out of the car,” she recalls. “It sounds funny now, but that’s really where it started!”
Bread Run Roanoke officially took off in the spring of 2022. As for the name? This writer assumed it had to do with Casey’s ties to the local running community — but this is just a happy coincidence. It actually originated from the pop-up pro hearing people around her use the catchy phrase, “Gotta make a bread run.”
Operating a pop-up bakery as opposed to a traditional storefront comes with its own set of unique challenges. “Your location is always changing, so you want people to be able to recognize you instantly. I want someone driving by to say, ‘Oh, there’s Bread Run!’ That’s always my goal — to be super recognizable — because I don’t want someone missing out.”
But her love for baking and the ever-changing nature of the business far outweigh the logistical challenges. Her favorite part of the endeavor? “The menu planning for sure,” says Casey, “because it’s my art form. It’s where I express myself — where my creativity comes out.”
Casey specializes in pushing the limits of European baking styles, experimenting with different flavor profiles and adding her own special flair to family recipes. With incredible creations debuting on the menu all the time, be prepared to discover a new favorite every time you shop Bread Run. But if you happen to be one of many Roanokers who can’t live without her outrageously good challah, you’re in luck. It’s the only recipe Casey doesn’t change up, and she “will never not show up [to market] with it.”
Outside her regular Salem and Grandin appearances, Casey has recently started sharing her baking tips and tricks with others at her own events. The first one took place in December — a giant gingerbread cookie decorating gathering geared toward kids. It was a smashing success, so in February, she put together a Galentine’s cake decorating class. It sold out even faster than the first. “I’d always wanted to do some events where I teach people how to do things,” she says. “It’s just so fun getting the community together and showing them they can do it too.” She also enjoys supporting other small businesses by hosting her events at their shops and sending attendees home with goodie bags filled with locally sourced items.
When she’s not working, Casey loves taking advantage of all the hiking trails and outdoor amenities Roanoke has to offer. “Carvins Cove is five minutes from my house. You can’t beat that!”
Learn more about Bread Run Roanoke, including where to find them and current menu offerings, on their social media pages.
The story above is from our May/June 2025 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
