• A
run
• A vacant space
• A thought, followed by a phone call and a question.
• Am I crazy?
• The answer, No I always thought I’d like to…
• Wanna?
• Ok.
So it began. The search for
the perfect name and home started back
in April of 2002. We ( Peg & Deb) knew
that we wanted to create a warm, cozy and
fun place with a 60’s, 70’s
vibe to it. A place where people could
not only pick up yummy tasting treats to
go, but could just hang out as if they
were in their own space.
We had a lot of
grandiose ideas, but not a lot of money,
and ultimately most of
our furniture came from our own apartments
(i.e. the tiny TV dinner table and big
over sized green chair), to thrift shop
finds, friends and even throw-aways on
the street have helped create that warm,
cozy atmosphere that exists at sugar
Sweet sunshine today.
We tried on several
occasions to come up with clever names.
In the end, it
was a
trip down the Bowery to look at a space
on Rivington Street which would end
up being the home of sugar Sweet sunshine,
but not for another year. On that walk
to the LES, on Bowery & Bleecker,
etched in the cement was “sugar
Sweet sunshine, Love” in a big
heart.
Fate? We don’t know.
What we know now and what we knew then,
was the name
was in our heads and more importantly,
in our hearts.
We are truly driven
by the love of
what we create everyday, and it
comes not just
in the form of a cupcake, but in
the knowledge that we truly make
people
happy every time
they walk through the doors of
sugar Sweet sunshine.
In the summer of 2002,
sugar Sweet sunshine was put to paper.
The
following winter
of 2003, sugar Sweet sunshine
was born and opened its doors. |
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Bios
Peggy & Debbie met back in
19xx performing in “The Music Man” in
Brooklyn Heights. They both led the gypsy lifestyle…audition
to audition and corporate survival jobs…you
know the deal.
As friends, they always felt
that they would collaborate on a theatrical
production. In between shows, they worked
together at Magnolia Bakery having fun, eating
cupcakes and waiting on people. Some of their
craziest ideas grew out of that experience…as
well as some very fond memories.
In the spring
of 2002, each of them reached respective
crossroads in their careers. Deb
had been doing the corporate circuit and
Peg was doing the bakery thing full-time
between auditions. It was time for each
of them to take a huge leap of faith. Peg
had
the initial impulse to open a bakery. It
was solidified after a phone call to Deb.
The idea was born. Now, all they had to
do was learn how to bake.
Debbie had a dusty
old Betty Crocker cookbook that her parents
had given her and decided
it was a good a place to start. So, every
Sunday for the next 1-1/2 years in Deb’s
kitchen the two experimented. Some of
the things they baked were great triumphs
and
others…well, it was back to the
baking board. They had many willing guinea
pigs,
some of whom were extremely brave…they
owe a lot of thanks to many of a certain
coffee shop’s former employees
for their willing participation in the
great
taste-offs of sugar Sweet sunshine.
In
between baking, working survival gigs
and picking up wholesale clients, Deb & Peg
were writing a business plan, looking
at potential locations and trying to
make enough
money to make sugar Sweet sunshine happen.
There are so many people that were
met along the way who were so instrumental
to the journey
and quite patient with their inexperience
in opening a business. To say “Thank
You” isn’t enough, so they
got lots of baked goods.
sugar Sweet
sunshine was unofficially
open Thanksgiving 2003. For 48 hrs.
Deb & Peg
baked in their brand new kitchen with
their brand new oven for the first
time. The doors
were open for those who wanted to take
a peek in and see what was going on.
The window
was decorated with pictures of the
two baking in Deb’s kitchen and
their early baking creations. Deb & Peg
always had the open door policy and
it still applies today-you
can see right into the kitchen.
December
22, 2003 marks the day the “Open” sign
went up on the door of sugar Sweet
sunshine.
Peg & Deb don’t
claim to be pastry chefs-just two girls
who set out to do their
own thing. They wanted to create an
atmosphere that’s warm, inviting,
fun and remains carefree enough to
believe in the “Why
Not?”
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