Welcome to Southwest Raleigh’s newest series, the Small Business Spotlight. Periodically, we’ll be featuring a small business and its owner(s) to get a feel for what truly makes Southwest Raleigh a great place to live, work, and play: the people!
First up in the Small Business Spotlight is the gracious Sara of The Cupcake Shoppe. Sara is from Raleigh and graduated from NCSU in 2001, followed by a successful 6-year-stint with Johnson & Johnson traveling the East Coast doing corporate sales. At the end of those 6 years, she came back to Raleigh to pursue her dreams of opening a “couture, scratch based bakery,” and thus, The Cupcake Shoppe was born. Read on to get to know Sara and her story!
swral: Who are you?
Sara: I am a Raleigh native, an NCSU alum, a former corporate sales person, a creative mind, a local advocate, a baker, decorator, and all around business woman! I love all things sweet…cookies, cakes, cupcakes, macaroons, tarts, etc and all things vintage, high quality, and pretty and thus the concept of the shop was born. In my free time I love to run and be outdoors, and walk downtown with my hubby and our black Lab Cooper on a sunny Sunday afternoon for lunch or coffee. We are getting ready for our first baby in the Spring so right now I am working to balance the demands of the business with getting ready to be a mom for the first time!
swral: Where did the idea for a cupcake bakery originate?
Sara: After 6 years in the corporate world I was eager to do something more creative and find passion in my work. I have always loved to bake and spent time when I was younger working with an aunt who did wedding cakes and that’s where the love started. When I hit my late 20’s I knew that I wanted something different from my work and wanted to be passionate about what I did everyday. On a weekend trip to New York to visit a friend, I wandered into an old bakery and immediately felt at home. This got me thinking about all my ideas for cakes/cupcakes and I started doing some research.
I had been home for the holidays and loved all the downtown revitalization that was happening and thought the concept I had in mind would be perfect for the “walking neighborhoods” and the “live, work, play” concepts that were creeping into downtown. I stumbled upon the space and the rest is history! I decided to pull the trigger and sold my house in Florida and said “why not?”…if I was ever going to pursue my dream of an upscale “cupcake boutique” now was the time and downtown Raleigh was the perfect place! Get in first and be the best…5 years later we are still going strong as Raleigh’s first and finest cupcake boutique!
swral: And the proof is in the delicious cupcakes! Where do the recipes come from? What inspires new creations?
Sara: The recipes are a spin off of family favorites and are mostly trial and error when it comes to new recipes. We work really closely in our kitchen and collaborate on a weekly basis to come up with the best and most creative flavors! I have great staff and we are constantly looking for new ideas while sticking to our guns about using the highest quality ingredients and baking everything from scratch! We even have a 4 foot viewing window where you can come and watch our bakers and decorators at work (although they start pretty early in the morning, usually around 4 or 5 am to get the goods for the day baked 🙂
swral: Related to part of your answer in question 2 – why Glenwood / southwest Raleigh location? What factors pushed you to choose this location over other growing areas like North Raleigh (North Hills perhaps) or Cary?
Sara: When I first started looking at locations I loved the revitalization that was happening downtown and the uniqueness of the space. We have a lot of foot traffic from college students, to business professionals during the day, to those who live and socialize in the area…I didn’t want to be in a strip mall, and you can’t beat the character and uniqueness of our spot or the outside cafe seating!
There is nothing like watching the people go by “out and about” on a Friday night and being part of their evenings out. It’s also fun to be in the “hip” area so close to all the happenings downtown. We get to be part of downtown events like parades and festivals, concerts, community fundraising events, and we really feel a “part” of our community as we are located in the center of it all!
Thanks so much to Sara for talking with us! If you haven’t been by, you are definitely missing out on some delicious cupcakes and other yummy treats (and I have it on good authority that the coffee is tasty as well!). The Shoppe is at 104 Glenwood Avenue, or check them out online.