“Juanita” the VW bus appearing at the Madison Night Market pop-up on May 10.
Her name is officially Juanita, but these days everybody calls her Bloom. She’s a 1974 Volkswagen bus, and for the past two years she’s been popping up at events around Madison, stocked with beverages and sweet treats from Bloom Bake Shop.
“I’ve always loved VW busses — they have that nostalgia,” says owner Annemarie Maitri. “There’s just something that happens when you see a VW bus — it just makes you smile.”
Maitri opened the original Bloom Bake Shop in Middleton nearly a decade ago and expanded to a second location on Monroe Street last year. She thought a vintage VW bus would be the perfect vehicle to take the Bloom brand mobile, so she started searching locally to see if any were for sale. Locating one in Wisconsin proved tricky. “I did a lot of research, but there aren’t that many people professionally working on restoring them,” she says. “I realized I had to broaden my search.”
She connected with Dub Box USA, a Portland, Ore.-based company that manufactures vintage-style trailers and restores Volkswagen buses. The company specializes in pull-behind trailers, but Maitri wanted the bus to be able to drive. So they found Juanita in Seattle, Wash., and brought her down to Portland, where they fixed her up and gave her a fresh coat of sky-blue paint. “You definitely have to learn her language in terms of stick shift,” Maitri says. “But she’s really fun to drive.”
Since she’s such an old girl, the Bloom Bus stays within the Madison area, Maitri says, but there’s no shortage of opportunities. The bus has appeared at pop-up events in partnership with local businesses including One Barrel Brewing Co. and Bad Dog Frida. It’s a popular catering option for corporate parties, as well as weddings and other special events.
“If you want to get into a good mood, just get in the bus,” Maitri says. “She just makes people happy.”
In a few weeks, Maitri will open Bloom Bindery, a combination cookie bakery, coffeehouse and bookstore in the original Bloom Bake Shop location in Middleton. She’s partnering with Joanne Berg, owner of Mystery to Me bookstore at 1863 Monroe St., who will curate the Bindery’s selection of books. Beyond baking, Maitri is passionate about literacy and is working with Literacy Network of Dane County to collaborate on programming. She says the Bloom Bus will help with outreach.
“I hope to use her as kind of a reward, with milk and cookies,” Maitri says. On June 8, she’s partnering with Bess the Book Bus, a program that provides books to underprivileged children. They’re still working to determine at which local school the event will be held, but there will be books and sweets aplenty.
Says Maitri: “I’m really excited about using her as a symbol of bettering ourselves and the community.”
