IIBUSINESSII
BY VICKIE MCINTYRE PHOTOS SUPPLIED
AN ISLAND INSTITUTION SIGNE’S HEAVEN BOUND BAKERY & CAFÉ CELEBRATES 50 YEARS BY AMY COYNE BREDESON | PHOTO BY ROB KAUFMAN It all started in August 1972, when a young mother from Guilford, Conn., decided to open a food emporium in Harbour Town, selling fresh juices, protein drinks, salads and sandwiches to residents and visitors of Hilton Head Island. Now 81 and just as hardworking as she was five decades ago, Signe Gardo is celebrating 50 years in business. The oldest continuously owned restaurant in Hilton Head history, Signe’s Heaven Bound Bakery & Cafe was originally called Signe’s World. Gardo added chocolate chip cookies and banana bread to her menu, and soon became an island favorite. “Years ago, Charles Fraser said the two most popular things in Harbour Town were the lighthouse and Signe’s,” Gardo said. “And that was great coming from him.” Her staff was made up of teenagers from Sea Pines Academy 28 // H I LT O N H E A D M O N T H LY. C O M
and college kids at home on break. They wore long blue skirts, lacy white cotton aprons and white-striped shirts. With a small oven that could only bake 12 cookies at a time, customers would stand in line down the steps of her shop, which was in a former lighthouse keeper’s cottage. Gardo got so busy that she had to start baking cookies and bread in her home kitchen on Plantation Drive in Sea Pines. In 1983 Signe’s moved out of Harbour Town to its current location on Arrow Road. Gardo has since expanded her menu to offer breakfast and lunch. She began offering take-home Thanksgiving dinners in the 1980s and daily dinners in 2015. One thing has remained the same through the years — Gardo’s heart for serving people. She loves her customers and will go out of her way to make them happy. She makes
