Sweet success
{ Post and Courier :: May 2013 }
It’s a sweet gig if you can get it.
Entrepreneur goes to financial management and accounting school but doesn’t want to be an accountant. A foodie and lover of baking, she comes to Charleston after graduating from college, then makes a yearlong swing through New York until she gets laid off and still isn’t sure what do with her degree and interests. So she returns to Charleston without much money and decides to launch a gourmet cupcake shop in the highly competitive food and beverage town.
Kristin Kuhlke Cobb didn’t think much about what would happen if she failed.
No need. Seven years later, she owns four stores across the state, employs 60 people, survived the recession selling $3 cupcakes, received national praise and now is considering a franchise.
But the stores’ success also has meant Cobb can do philanthropic work. For instance, Cupcake [DownSouth] stores are selling Boston Cream cupcakes through today to support Boston Marathon bombings victims. She’s donating the proceeds to The One Fund Boston group, which benefits those affected.
Maybe it all really started in New York when a friend served cupcakes at a birthday party. “I hadn’t had a cupcake since I was a kid,” Cobb recalls. Then, she and friends visited the Magnolia Bakery, a New York spot known for its gourmet cupcakes and featured on the TV show “Sex and the City.”
Still, she didn’t think of devoting her career to cupcakes. She was researching franchise ideas when she moved back to Charleston. In need of money, she worked at a cell phone store (in the spot where one of her Cupcake [DownSouth] stores is today). A creative type, she longed to own a business where she could try out her ideas.
In fall 2005, she went to dinner with her best friend, Jen George. After a glass of wine, Cobb revealed her plan to open a cupcake shop. “All of her friends and family thought it was crazy,” George says. “I didn’t think it was that crazy.”
George, who today is Cobb’s vice president, also knew her friend was ambitious and not afraid to take risks.
Indeed, Cobb took out a home equity line of credit and bought a couple of kitchen mixers and a cheap fridge from Lowe’s to start. Her dad, once a general contractor, helped with renovations. Cobb hired a baker and brought together some of a her own recipes, a few family favorites and several new ideas.
“I wanted to have something that was high quality and would be a little more gourmet but also remind you of your grandparents’ recipes,” she says.
{ Read the rest of the story on the Post and Courier's website }
{ Post and Courier :: May 2013 }
It’s a sweet gig if you can get it.
Entrepreneur goes to financial management and accounting school but doesn’t want to be an accountant. A foodie and lover of baking, she comes to Charleston after graduating from college, then makes a yearlong swing through New York until she gets laid off and still isn’t sure what do with her degree and interests. So she returns to Charleston without much money and decides to launch a gourmet cupcake shop in the highly competitive food and beverage town.
Kristin Kuhlke Cobb didn’t think much about what would happen if she failed.
No need. Seven years later, she owns four stores across the state, employs 60 people, survived the recession selling $3 cupcakes, received national praise and now is considering a franchise.
But the stores’ success also has meant Cobb can do philanthropic work. For instance, Cupcake [DownSouth] stores are selling Boston Cream cupcakes through today to support Boston Marathon bombings victims. She’s donating the proceeds to The One Fund Boston group, which benefits those affected.
Maybe it all really started in New York when a friend served cupcakes at a birthday party. “I hadn’t had a cupcake since I was a kid,” Cobb recalls. Then, she and friends visited the Magnolia Bakery, a New York spot known for its gourmet cupcakes and featured on the TV show “Sex and the City.”
Still, she didn’t think of devoting her career to cupcakes. She was researching franchise ideas when she moved back to Charleston. In need of money, she worked at a cell phone store (in the spot where one of her Cupcake [DownSouth] stores is today). A creative type, she longed to own a business where she could try out her ideas.
In fall 2005, she went to dinner with her best friend, Jen George. After a glass of wine, Cobb revealed her plan to open a cupcake shop. “All of her friends and family thought it was crazy,” George says. “I didn’t think it was that crazy.”
George, who today is Cobb’s vice president, also knew her friend was ambitious and not afraid to take risks.
Indeed, Cobb took out a home equity line of credit and bought a couple of kitchen mixers and a cheap fridge from Lowe’s to start. Her dad, once a general contractor, helped with renovations. Cobb hired a baker and brought together some of a her own recipes, a few family favorites and several new ideas.
“I wanted to have something that was high quality and would be a little more gourmet but also remind you of your grandparents’ recipes,” she says.
{ Read the rest of the story on the Post and Courier's website }