Axios Des Moines
April 03, 2026
1 big thing: Let them eat cake
The Bake Shoppe, home of Barbara's iconic Champagne cake recipe, is expanding with a second location at the Waukee Triangle.
Why it matters: The dreamy blush-pink cake has been a Des Moines tradition since the 1940s, and demand has grown so much in recent years that co-owner Lisa Kannapel says they need another shop.
What's new: The new shop will be at 420 Sixth St., #120.
- Smaller than the existing Windsor Heights bakery, the space will still carry popular desserts as the business experiments at the new location during its first year.
- Meanwhile, the existing location is also expanding and moving into the space next door.
- Kannapel says the goal at the new shop is to maintain a similar warm, cozy "grandma's house" feel.
Flashback: She and her husband, Chris, purchased The Bake Shoppe in 2021 after spending years renting oven space at the store for their biscotti business.
- The couple both worked as educators for 30-plus years, but when The Bake Shoppe's then-owner David Stark asked if they were interested in buying the business, they said yes.
- With the purchase of The Bake Shoppe, they also got the recipe for Barbara's Champagne cake — a beloved dessert that Stark learned when his family bought Barbara's Bake Shop in 1948.
Since then, the Kannapels have kept the shop largely the same, including scratch-made recipes, a cozy '90s aesthetic and Barbara's Champagne cake front and center, though they've added their own touches.
- What's changed is the bakery's growth. When they took over, there were four staffers.
- Now there are 25 — many of them high schoolers and college students returning during breaks. On busy mornings, people are parked and waiting before the doors even open.
What they're saying: At 60 years old and a recent breast cancer survivor, Lisa Kannapel says she wants to try things out without regret.
- "I don't want to look back when I'm 80 and say, 'Man, I wish I would have done that,'" she says.
The intrigue: So what makes the dessert so tempting? She says there's a bit of nostalgia, especially for families who have gotten their birthday cakes from Barbara's since the 1940s.
- It's a pretty chiffon cake with a whipped custard mixture, but it's also very sugary, so if you're not a fan of sweet, she recommends something else.
- "I think it's just a tradition, and it's a celebratory item," she says.
What's next: They hope to open the new shop in May.
2. Vermeer's next bet: Working in outer space
Iowa-based equipment manufacturer Vermeer is eyeing its future on the Moon, including plans to mine for a rare form of helium.
Why it matters: The effort could be a game-changer for fusion energy, quantum computing and national security advancements.
- Vermeer's Moon efforts come as the company launches a $100 million expansion in Bondurant.
Driving the news: Vermeer has worked for over two years with the startup Interlune to build equipment capable of mining helium-3 from space, leveraging its expertise in excavation and underground infrastructure.
- The effort comes as NASA launched Artemis II this week, its first crewed Moon mission in decades.
State of play: Interlune and Vermeer unveiled a full-scale prototype excavator in May 2025 that is designed to process about 100 metric tons of Moon dirt per hour as part of a helium-3 harvesting system.
Reality check: Interlune has an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy to purchase helium-3, but only if it can deliver it by 2029.
- The company has not yet demonstrated it can extract or return helium-3 from the Moon at scale.
Yes, but: Vermeer could expand as a lunar player beyond helium missions with infrastructure that could be needed for further exploration.
- CEO Jason Andringa told "The Iowa Podcast" this week that he has had discussions with aerospace players, including SpaceX.
The intrigue: What the Vermeer/Interlune team would build for the Moon would be applicable on Mars as well, Andringa said.
What they're saying: The Bondurant facility is expected to open next year and focus on high-volume components like cutting edges and wear parts used in trenchers, drills and grinders.
- Moving that work frees space at the company's Pella headquarters to expand production of larger, high-demand equipment, such as large drills and surface mining machines, per the podcast.
The bottom line: The Bondurant expansion aims to meet today's demand, but its lunar interests suggest a longer-term bet that Iowa manufacturing could play a role in the space economy.
3. 🤬 Workers sour on the job market
Workers, especially those with a college degree, think the job market is awful, a new Gallup analysis out last week finds.
Why it matters: Although the unemployment rate is relatively low at the moment, hiring has slowed a lot, particularly for professionals.
- Deteriorating worker sentiment can signal that things are about to get much worse.
4. Your weekend plans
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