Custom Cakery Of Gillett

by Mary A Hoppe
(Gillett, WI., 54124)

Dear Folks:

I am a 69-yr-old woman who has been a widow three times, but never gave up my dream to have my own bake shop. We raised eight kids, and always put their needs first, so there was never money to build my dream of a licensed place to bake and exhibit the beautiful cakes I've done over three decades. I always had to share church and school kitchens, (paying them a percentage of my income), in order to keep a state license. It was a lot of work hauling supplies and packing the baked goods to finish the cakes where I lived.

After my last husband passed away, I was forced to examine my situation, and see that it was, "now or never", to start my own business. With no savings, only my Social Security check to get by on, I found a building in a small town that had living quarters in the rear. It was a 2-bedroom small apartment. Small, but liveable. The "future showroom" was once a restaurant, then a print shop and even a sub shop at one point. It needed so much work and I had no financial backer. It did not deter me.

I started with the floors. The building was for sale, but I asked the owner if he would let me lease it for a year, so I could see if the business would blossom, before I talked about actually buying it. The owner agreed to help me get the building in shape. I asked for carpetting, and to my amazement, he offered to supply me with ceramic tile for the whole area! It was just what the place needed to give it a clean, "royal" look. My son showed me how to cut and lay the tiles by doing the first four rows. I proudly did the rest myself. I built pedestal tables to display the cakes. With empty cardboard cylinders, (the kind you use for concrete pillars), blocks cut from styrofoam and plywood, I created tables. It took a few trips to local lumberyards to find bargain pieces, but I found them. The wall separing the Cinderella corner from the shop's rear entrance is a 4'x8' sheet of half-inch oak that I bought for five dollars at one yard. A neighborhood lumber yard gave me a line of credit to buy the lumber to build a display case . I also was able to build the work and storage area in the kitchen. The styrofoam cakes took about three weeks to cut, sand, paint and decorate. My total cost was less than $400 to make a bake shop that passed state inspection!

I had bought a preowned gas range and appliances for the kitchen with my charge account at a local store, but they are in good working condition. My cakes turn out so nice! I've had nothing but praise for my "creations". I do a lot of rolled fondant cakes, (I can create almost anything with this amazing stuff)! The locals call me, "Gillett's Ace Of Cakes".

The location I chose is great, too. I am the only wedding cake shop between Crandon and Green Bay, (about a120-mile stretch). I'm at the intersection of Main Street and a main highway, too.

Every night when I turn off the lights in my very own bake shop, I get the same wonderful feeling of accomplishment. Like the plaque I made that hangs over my desk, my inspiration, so true, it reads,
"If it to be...
It's up to me"

My website: Cstmcakery.com