The Nationwide Bakery Chain That's Now Required To Be Open On Sundays

Dessert lovers can now snag a sweet treat on a Sunday afternoon from a certain American bakery franchise, though the move is already garnering controversy among employees. The bakery chain Nothing Bundt Cakes has issued a mandate instructing all locations to stay open seven days a week, beginning on February 2, 2025. At the time of writing, there are over 600 store locations across the United States, and approximately 150 of these stores do not operate all week.

Famous chains such as Chick-Fil-A and Crumbl are known to require that stores close on Sundays, while Nothing Bundt Cakes formerly left the decision up to franchise owners. However, this new policy will now require all locations to be open for a minimum of five hours each Sunday.

Customers can now ditch the boxed cake mixes and DIY Bundt pans on any day and opt instead for a tasty Bundt cake or a dozen small "Bundtinis" from the bakery chain — however, employees who once enjoyed the freedom of Sundays off are taken aback by the change in policy. Still, this decision has been a long time coming. The Nothing Bundt Cakes brand team told CNN, "Over a year ago, we communicated the requirement to be open all week long to our entire franchise system. This provided them with time to prepare, and the requirement is consistent with our franchise agreements." 

Not every Nothing Bundt Cakes franchise owner is eager to claim more hours on the job. For many store managers, having Sundays off was seen as a huge incentive at the time they invested in the company. The new mandate is causing a shift in work-life balance that some are no longer comfortable with. Others are concerned that demand will not be high enough on Sundays for their specific locations to make a profit, ultimately costing the owners money in terms of labor.

Doing business on Sundays also causes conflicts for certain religious groups. Nothing Bundt Cakes has received pushback from franchise owners and employees in Utah, where members of the Mormon church feel their religious liberty is being infringed upon. Sunday is viewed as the Sabbath day, during which no work is done. In response, Utah state representative Ken Ivory is planning on introducing legislation that could prevent businesses from requiring stores to operate on certain days of the week, unless that clause was initially included in the franchise agreement.

While there has been no legal decision at the time of reporting, Nothing Bundt Cakes has shared with CNN that it is aware of this movement and "watching the legislation in Utah closely." The company also claimed that it would consider exceptions to this new policy for locations that have been open longer than six months, although franchise owners remain skeptical of this promise.