Attention Wal-Mart shoppers - Colin has hot buns

The first thing that hit customers today as they stormed through the brand-new entrance at the Sault Wal-Mart was the fragrance of Colin Locke's steaming hot buns.

There was a ribbon-cutting at 8 a.m.

The staff did the time-honoured Wal-Mart squiggly-cheer.

And then the good citizens of Sault Ste. Marie hit the aisles of the Sault's newest grocery store, scarfing down free coffee, cake and product samples along the way.

Jana White and Louise Lacroix have been here from Timmins for the past week to help Locke, the in-store bakery manager, test out recipes and train the staff.

They also whipped up a triple layer cake measuring five by two feet and decorated it.

"It was a group effort," said Lacroix, a cake decorator from the Timmins Wal-Mart.

The baked-goods section had been partitioned off over the past week by a chain-link fence covered by a green tarp, but the new bakery staff regularly slipped cookies, cupcakes, croissants and of course Colin's buns, over the fence to customers for feedback.

The response was been positive and word has it that Locke has good reason to be proud of his buns.

And his tarts.

And his ciabatta, panini, filone, sourdough, pane olio, cookies, nut free-pastries, gluten-free pastries, chocolate and butter croissants, as well as all the beautifully decorated cupcakes, cakes make to order and specialty cheesecakes.

"We bake several times a day," Locke said. "So our food is always fresh. Of course it means it always smells good here, too."

Additional coverage of today's opening will be posted here later today.