Popularity Of Lauralee McCloskey’s Fredericton Bakery Beyond Her Wildest Dreams
FREDERICTON – After the closure of Fredericton’s Northside Market, the popular cupcakery Buttercream Dreams was left without a home. In August, they opened their first brick and mortar store.
Bakery owner Lauralee McCloskey has been surprised and overwhelmed by her store’s popularity.
“We’ve been busy since day one,” McCloskey said. “I never imagined that we’d be this busy.”
After the Northside Market’s closure in April, McCloskey was disappointed to see the business she had worked each weekend since the market’s opening in 2012 forced to close.
“I left there on [that] Sunday with all my things and the Hill Bros. messaged me on Monday that they had a spot for us.”
Scott Hill told McCloskey they had a space open in a strip mall at 510 Brookside Drive on the north side. A few months later the bakery had a new home.
“It was the support from friends and family that made me decide to do it,” McCloskey said about opening a brick-and-mortar location.
She also attributes her decision to support from the community and the kind messages she received hoping she would find a new location.
Buttercream Dreams offers a variety of treats similar to the ones at the former Northside Market location – cupcakes, cheesecakes, crème brûlée, cookies, donuts, squares – and she has added sandwiches and soup customers can take home.
McCloskey says the cupcakes remain the most popular product, particularly the Skor and cookie dough flavours.
The busyness of the new store ultimately made her recognize she needed more help. In the beginning, it was just her with her friend and chef Pat Lewis.
“He was here at the beginning and we were trying to do it all ourselves,” she said. “I was here from 6 in the morning till midnight the first week just trying to keep the store stocked. I quickly realized I needed to hire more staff.”
The team now has five members and usually operates with one person at the counter and McCloskey and Lewis in the kitchen. The biggest challenge, she says, has been keeping the cupcakes stocked.
Additionally, over the summer, McCloskey signed a contract with the Hill Bros. to provide sandwiches for its golf course during the season.
While it was always at the back of her mind, McCloskey didn’t seriously consider opening her independent store until this year.
“I would always say, ‘oh, that’s too much money and we’re fine at the market’,” she said.
Since its inception, Buttercream Dreams cupcakes have outperformed McCloskey’s expectations. After working in technical support, in 2012 she asked for an extended leave of absence following her maternity leave to try selling cupcakes at the Northside Market.
“I went the first week with 200 cupcakes and they sold out in two hours,” she said. “We just went from there.”
Liam Floyd is a reporter for Huddle. Submit your story suggestions: [email protected].