CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — A new business has opened in the former Sykora Bakery building in the historic Czech Village business district.
LoKey Hat Co., a custom hat boutique at 73 16th Ave. SW, opened its doors to the public on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025.
This is the second LoKey Hat Co. for owner Candy Nanke, who owns the Sykora building with her husband, Kory Nanke.
She founded LoKey Hat Co. in 2023 with a flagship store in Bonita Springs, Fla.
Candy Nanke is shown inside the new LoKey Hat Co., in the former Sykora Bakery building. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
The name pays homage to LoKey Ranch, a sprawling ranch in the heart of Tennessee, owned by her brother.
Customers can customize a hat with feathers, branding, charms, hat bands and other accessories to personalize it.
“We shape ’em, we cut ’em, we burn ’em, we style them,” Nanke said, adding that some of the hat bands are made from leather from invasive Everglades pythons, one of which she personally caught.
The shop will also offer T-shirts, men’s and women’s boots and other ranch gear, in addition to rental space for private events.
LoKey Hat Co. offers a number of western style accessories. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
A business with a western flair isn’t unprecedented in Czech Village, which was home to the longtime Saddle & Leather Shop, 48 16th Ave. SW before it was wiped out during the unprecedented flood of 2008.
The Sykora Bakery building was constructed in 1900, initially as a saloon called the Dew Drop Inn.
Related: Sykora history hits the auction block
Charles and Anna Kosek opened the first Czech bakery in the building in 1903. Joseph Sykora, who worked for the Koseks, bought the business in 1927.
Sykora and his wife, Clara, owned and operated Sykora Bakery for nearly 40 years, and lived above the bakery. The couple had four children: Ernest, Elsie, Lumir and Lester, with the latter three following in their parents’ footsteps.
Remnants of the former Sykora Bakery remain on the building, shown Nov. 20, 2025. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
Elsie worked the front, while Lumir and Lester, who assumed ownership after their parents died, baked in the back. Lumir died in 1969, and Lester continued operating the bakery until just weeks before his death in 1994. Elsie died in 1993.
Don and Sheila Janda then operated Sykora Bakery before John and Sue Rocarek purchased the business in 2001. Featuring rye bread, kolaches and other Czech pastries, the bakery remained open until September 2023.
Nanke said the couple plans to open a restaurant in the other half of the Sykora building in early 2026.
“We want to respect its history,” she said of the 125-year-old building. “We want to bring some life back to it.”
More: Czech treasure discovered during Sykora auction
Business hours for LoKey Hat Co. will be Thursdays: noon to 6 p.m.; Friday and Saturday: noon to 7 p.m.; Sundays: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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