Yes. Before you say anything, we already know. We’re total nerds. But that’s okay, because we’ve got lots of cool toys. Click on to see more Star Wars + Sweet Avenue pair-ups. You know, kinda like the Marvel Teamups, but tastier. Read the rest of this entry »
Have you always wanted to be a model? Do you have a Sweet Avenue shirt? Well, we’re here to make your dreams a reality. Send us a photo of you wearing your Sweet Avenue shirt or tank, and we’ll post it on the main page of our website for the whole world to see. When you become a big famous model, don’t forget to thank us!
Here are some of our Sweet Avenue models:
We received a very upsetting letter this morning. We hope that we will be able to find a suitable replacement for someone who has become a dear friend.
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To Whom It May Concern:
This is my formal notification that I am resigning from Sweet Avenue Bake Shop. August 22, 2008 will be my last day of employment.
I appreciate the opportunities I have been given here, and wish you much success in the future. I am going on a sabbatical to find myself. I hope that I shall be welcomed back come next Summer.
Sincerely,
Coconut Lime
PS- I’m taking Ruby Tuesday and Orange Milana with me.
Bakeries kind of universally smell good, right? Well, we think it’s pretty awesome that local food blogger &restaurant critic, Bill Pitcher declared us the best smelling bakery in North Jersey.
Sweet Avenue Bake Shop, Rutherford: All bakeries smell good, but the aroma is focused at Sweet Avenue. The bakery makes cupcakes and frosting. Period. And that’s all you smell when you walk in the door.
We think that’s a pretty awesome distinction. Yay us!
A man walks into the shop a few days ago, reeking of cigarette smoke. I tell him “hello” and ask how I can help him. Then the following conversation occurs:
Man: My name is ______ and I’m from [insert name of restaurant supply company]. Are you guys new here?
Me: Not terribly, no.
Man: Oh, well we provide supplies to a lot of the bakeries around here, I wanted to drop off a catalog.
Me: Oh? What kind of stuff do you carry?
Man: We have a wide assortment of cake mixes and frostings. You guys do cupcakes, huh? We’ve got all that stuff.
Me: Um, we actually don’t use cake mixes. We make our own cake, and we make our own frosting.
Man: Oh… Really?
Me: Really.
Man: Oh, okay. That’s good. Um. Really? [pause] Can I just leave this catalog?
Interesting guy. He seemed genuinely shocked. I hope he found someone to buy his cake mix.
Again, this is a little late, but I just wanted to give you all a little insight into our preparation for the Christmas rush. Not pictured is another small castle of boxes a few feet behind me. When I was five I would have given anything to be surrounded by 8 feet of boxes in every direction. At twenty-five, my fingers are just sore from folding all of said boxes, and I didn’t even get to jump into them.
We’ve been so busy lately that we’ve had to resort to forced child labor. That’s legal as long as you feed them cupcakes, right? Regardless, she’s not complaining, so lay off, alright?
Say hello to Danielle’s little sister, Kelly. She’ll be ringing up your orders for the next few days. Don’t worry, she’s really pretty good at making change.
I didn’t think this was necessary, but it has come to my attention that it is – so here goes.
First and foremost, Sweet Avenue Bake Shop is not a chain or a franchise. It is owned by the awesome husband and wife team of Jake and Danielle Vance. Kristina and Ann are the best relatives and employees a small bake shop could ask for.
Second, we operate a very small storefront where we sell the best cupcakes in the state of NJ. We sometimes make cookies, muffins and brownies when we can. We are sorry, but we do not serve cakes, pies or bagels.
Third, as stated previously, our staff consists of four really awesome people. We are not robots, and we do not have oompa-loompas running around pulling magical cupcakes out of the air (although that does sound pretty rad). We make everything from scratch and with love, and that takes time. Sometimes we sell out of cupcakes and book up fast on the weekends, so please order or stop by early. We know that everyone loves cupcakes and would hate to turn you away for an order.
Fourth, at Sweet Avenue, we love what we do and most importantly – we love to have fun. If you are a mean-spirited person, someone who loves to complain, or someone who just loves confrontation – all the cupcakes in the world aren’t going to help you, but maybe a good therapist might. What I’m trying to say is that we’d rather not deal with you if you’re going to be a cranky pants. Let us use that time to spread the cupcake love to more deserving patrons.
I hope this clears up a lot of questions and concerns out there.
Dedicated to life, liberty and the pursuit of cupcakes,
-The Sweet Avenue Staff
Let me preface this by saying that I love our customers. Sometimes they make us laugh, either because they’re funny, or just exceptionally unique. At the end of the day, they make it possible to do what we do, and we enjoy the looks of satisfaction they give us over their half-eaten cupcakes. We also know that we are not perfect, and as such we value their constructive criticism and strive to improve where we can.
In short: We love you, and we listen to you. Such is the basis of any good relationship.
That said, we’ve always gotten our fair share of “offbeat” customer comments, but rarely did they ever stray into the domain of Wholesale Crazy. Until we opened up our shop, that is. I’m going to paste in a transcript I made of a recent voicemail we received. Imagine the following being read in the voice of Jasper Beardly.
Hey how ya doin’? I came over for breakfast the other day and found out, what do you call it? muffins, uh cupcakes, you know…. a.. uh… two of us want some coffee… and uh… breakfast. I dunno, what is this place? I been livin’ in Rutherford for YEARS and now we come on a Sunday, me and four guys and i can’t come in, I gotta go to this place, the ice CREAM. so anyway, uh, get some more shit on your menu. I wanna come in there for the the EGGS, I wanna get BAGELS, I wanna get some uh english muffins, all that stuff, you know. We wanna come in, I got four guys today this morning and we’re going across the street. We thought we’d go to the cute little new place to help ya out. Cupcakes?! We don’t go for cupcakes!! We’ll get ‘em some time, but we want some real breakfast. Get uh… you don’t need meat, but you need whatta ya call it? You gotta get some eggs, bagels, english-whatever-they-are, the french crepes, craps, whatever-they-are, get those things! You gotta step it up a little bit, ya know. Anyway, so uh, good luck! We’ll come in some other time when you’re open. Goodbye!
