Flax 4 Life, a local gluten-free muffin and granola bakery, is about to make a big move. At the end of May, the business will move from its 7,000-square-foot facility at 1645 Jills Court, Suite 107, into a 25,000-square-foot facility at 468 W. Horton Road.

“This is a big move for us,” Kasondra Shippen said. “It’s exciting to have watched it (the business) grow. It’s very exciting for us. It’s quite an accomplishment.”

Shippen is the general manager of the small, family-owned business, which began developing and selling certified gluten-free muffins after sick relatives were diagnosed with celiac disease.

This isn’t the bakery’s first move. Flax 4 Life’s current space is bigger than its first — the business started out in a 1,000-square-foot warehouse in 2001. And tripling its space with the current move was a necessary next step.

“We didn’t have the space to be able to grow any further or expand,” Shippen said.

The Horton Road location will give the business enough room to produce more muffins and granola, and once they get settled in, the family will go into product development to determine what other gluten-free goodies they can cook up, Shippen said.

They also hope to expand their reach. Flax 4 Life started selling in the local area alone, but now sells from Canada down to California and over to Texas. Eventually, Shippen would like to sell her family’s baked goods on the East Coat, too, she said.

The new space has been vacant for a couple of years. It was most recently a chemical warehouse occupied by Homax Group, but the facility has a certain familiarity with muffins. Before Homax, it housed another muffin bakery, which made the building ideal for Flax 4 Life, Shippen said.

For more information, visit www.flax4life.net or call (877) 352-9487.