The City Wire Business of the Month: Sweet Boutique

Editor’s note: The City Wire highlights each month a business operating in the Fort Smith region. Business struggles, accomplishments, philanthropic support and many factors are considered when selecting a business to profile. Input from The City Wire readers also will be considered.

story and photos by Marla Cantrell

Brooke Moore has baked more than a thousand cakes in the last four years, enough for everyone who lives in her hometown of Cedarville.

The shop she owns with her sister, Stefanie Chastain, is in a bright pink building beside the small town’s post office. Inside is a glass case where mint-green petit fours sit on pleated papers next to rows of Krispy Kreme donuts. The drink menu is written on a nearby chalkboard; cappuccino sells for 75 cents, Red Bull for $2.25.

Thirty-year-old Moore said Sweet Boutique customers usually place orders after seeing one of her cakes at a wedding or birthday party. When she tells them where her shop is they ask, “Cedarville? Where is that?”

The Crawford County town is 15 miles north of the Wal-Mart Supercenter on Highway 59 in Van Buren. It’s a close-knit community: families show up to watch the Pirates play high school ball on Friday nights, quilters meet at the Old Rock Schoolhouse, the churches fill on Sunday.

And if you want to eat out, you have two choices — pizza or barbeque. If you want to do any serious shopping, you have only one — the Dollar General store.

Sweet Boutique is located at 8914 N. Arkansas 59. (Link here to the Web site.)

Moore said things have changed a lot since 2005, when she was a stay-at-home mom with a little time on her hands. She decided she needed a hobby and signed up for a cake decorating class at Michael’s in Fort Smith. She seemed to have a talent for it, so when her best friend asked if she’d make a cake for her baby shower, she accepted.  Someone at the shower liked it so much she asked Moore to make her wedding cake.

”I was very nervous, but I thought, ‘Well, I guess I could try,’” Moore said. “It was a four-tiered wedding cake, offset, and it was all butter cream. It was huge. I went to the wedding and the whole time my stomach was in knots. Whenever we got ready to go into the reception I just knew the cake had fallen and was going to be on the floor. It wasn’t. It was a big hit.”

Soon other people were asking for cakes. Moore started baking a cake a week, then two, then three more on the weekend. After two years she realized her hobby was becoming her career. That’s when her sister stepped in.

Twenty-five-year-old Chastain quit her banking job and began working with her sister full-time. Last fall, when Moore’s oven was staying on almost around the clock, the two decided it was time to expand. They put together a business plan. In March, they opened Sweet Boutique with an investment of $35,000.

There are surprisingly few independent bakeries in state.

According to the Retail Bakers of America, there are only an estimated 20 independent retail bakeries in Arkansas, and their total annual sales are about $16.3 million. The association also estimates there are about 6,300 independent retail bakeries in the U.S., and their total annual sales are estimated at about $4.1 Billion.

Moore and Chastain estimate Sweet Boutique sales are growing by 20% a month, despite a dismal economy and job losses across the area. Just this week they made their first commercial. Until now, all their sales have been from word of mouth or from their Web site.

The sisters have hired two helpers. Their Grandma Louise, who taught them to bake and once managed a Sears cafeteria, also helps out, making icing, baking and handing out advice.

“If she notices we’re doing something the hard way, she’ll say, ‘Do it like this and it’s ten times easier.’ Or she sees us wasting stuff, and she’ll say, ’Don’t you throw it away. You save it,’” Chastain said.

“She’s always right,” Moore added.

They estimate only 30% of their business comes from Cedarville. The other 70% is mostly from Van Buren and Fort Smith, although they’ve delivered cakes to Conway and Poteau. The two sell donuts every day, four dozen cookies, and four dozen cupcakes. Their most popular cakes are “present boxes.” That style costs $35 for a cake that serves 20. A sheet cake serving 25 sells for $25. Tiered cakes start at $1.75 a serving. The trend right now is zebra stripes or cakes with lime green and pink frosting.

But wedding cakes are the big sellers. Their black and white scroll cake is one of the most popular. The cost depends on the size and the design. And while they can work within almost any bride’s budget, they don’t mind extravagance. They once sold a five-tiered wedding cake, along with a three-tiered groom’s cake, for $800. Not bad for a little shop in Cedarville.

Moore and Chastain might expand someday, but right now they’re happy with how far they’ve come. No matter what the future holds, there are three rules the sisters plan to abide by.

“Make it fun. Stay true to our product. Don’t compromise taste for looks,” Moore said.