SALT LAKE CITY — A debate has been sparked in Utah after a corporate mandate from the Nothing Bundt Cakes dessert franchise demanding that all local owners keep their doors open on Sundays.
As many Utahns are well aware, several stores and restaurants around the state often remained closed on Sundays, despite the ability to attract more customers.
Sundays have always meant a lot to local franchise owner Kelsey Hunt. As a mother of three, she considers it a day to spend time with her family, and more importantly, a holy day.
“It truly is a day of worship, so it goes against our values and our fate and what it means to us by opening and operating on those days,” explained Hunt, owner of two Nothing Bundt Cakes franchises in the state.
When Hunt decided to take over her franchises in 2018, she says owners weren't required to open on Sundays.
“That was one of the things we spent a great deal of time going over with the corporate leadership during that meeting and something we felt strongly about in working with Nothing Bundt Cakes,” Hunt said.
About two years ago, Hunt noticed the corporation had started to encourage Utah franchises to remain open on Sundays.
“They started suggesting it as like, ‘This is something to consider as individual bakeries,’ knowing it wasn’t a requirement in our operations manual at the time,” she shared.
Hunt noticed a change last summer.
“[A] notification was sent out, the operations manual in 2024 was updated to then require Sundays.”
That mandate now requires locations to open on Sunday starting on Feb. 2.
Hunt reached out to Rep. Ken Ivory (R-West Jordan) who introduced a bill in January that would “ensure franchises have the assurance that their religious rights and convictions are not infringed unless such stipulation was expressly negotiated and included in the initial franchise agreement.”
Hunt says Utah bakeries sent a request to Nothing Bundt Cakes corporate offices asking for a delay in the mandate due to the pending legislation but have yet to receive a response.
