Sweet & Simple Bake Shop

Big news. BIG.

We’re opening a bake shop!

It will be called Sweet & Simple Bake Shop, and located at 75 Hillside Road, Fairfield, Connecticut.

We’ve signed the lease. We’ve submitted the plans to the Town of Fairfield. It’s happening.

We. Are. So. Excited.

Some of you know, we’ve been looking for a just-right-space for months. We wanted something not too small, not too big and definitely closer to home. Sweet & Simple launched in December, 2009 and it’s been three wonderful – fantastic! - years of baking, learning the food business and building a wholesale customer base.  It’s high time to hang our own little shingle. We love the new location, the other businesses in the shopping center and the opportunity to be part of our neighborhood.

What’s the time table for opening? We’ll open as soon as humanly possible. Stay tuned right here on the blog. I’m going to be posting lots of pictures and progress reports. For any of you thinking about opening your own bakery, I hope some of the information ends up being useful.

What will we serve? Our signature American-style baked goods and great coffee, tea and hot chocolate. We’re going to launch with a modest menu of breakfast-y baked goods, cookies, cupcakes and layer cakes. Look for new products and specials every month. We’ll also have a “gift” store with pretty cake stands, note cards, cookie jars and other treasures. We’ll be taking catering orders and continue to serve our online customers. The party favor business has been great fun – we love parties! - and we look forward to customers now coming to the shop to sample in person before ordering.

Thank you for your continued support. We love you. We hope you know that!

XO,

Michelle

Sweet & Simple Gives CTbites A Taste

I let the crew at Fairfield County’s CTbites sample my homemade cookies. The results? Delicious.  Read more

Sweet & Simple's YouTube Channel

If you had told me two years ago, just before Sweet & Simple launched, that I would be sitting at my desk typing a blog post to introduce my new YouTube channel I would have called you bonkers and rolled my eyes. Seriously.

Over the summer, I needed some pictures of myself holding Sweet & Simple pre-packaged baked goods. I asked Sandra Downie and Melani Lust, with whom I worked earlier this year, if they could help me again. I also asked a friend (and neighbor) if he would join us and shoot some video footage of me talking about Sweet & Simple.

I had originally planned on one long-ish video to tell my story and promote Sweet & Simple, but that idea did not work out as well as I hoped. It turns out that telling my story to a camera is not that simple - but either is starting a small business! So, we came up with the idea of 7 mini-videos. My words were unrehearsed and unscripted which is pretty obvious. Together they tell the story of how I took an idea that started in my home kitchen two years ago and turned it into a wholesale cookie business.

Thanks for watching. And thank you, especially, for being part of Sweet & Simple - it has been an incredible journey and an extraordinary learning experience for me! I love my job.

This is me in my kitchen holding some of my Sweet & Simple pre-packaged baked goods.
Thank you, Mom, for the beautiful apron. I really do love it.

Sweet and Simple In Westport Magazine

Sweet and Simple appears as a feature article in the July/August 2011 issue of Westport Magazine. Read about baking up entrepreneurship from scratch by downloading the .pdf.

Sweet and Simple In Patch

Sweet and Simple was recently featured in the local Patch network for Fairfield County. You can read more about my sweetly mixed life here. [Source: Patch Fairfield]

Sweet and Simple In The Academy

The good folks at The Academy, an online magazine devoted to small business culture, recently sat down with me to ask questions about how it all started. I think really, though, they were after some free cupcakes. You can read the fresh dish here. [Source: The Academy]

Caroline Dowd-Higgins Discusses My Business Recipe

I was recently featured on career coach Caroline Dowd-Higgins' blog. She tells the not so simple story of how I took my passion for baking and turned it into a business:

"So how does the Chief Household Officer now manage a growing baking business in addition to her family? Michelle admits that work/life integration is a challenge. Her boys are all very excited about the business and in addition to being expert taste testers and home kitchen helpers – they enjoy seeing their mom gain recognition and achieve success with her business in their community."

You can read the whole article here. [source: Caroline Dowd-Higgins]