Sugar Sugar
story: Sandie Tilleryphoto: Tracey Hedge
TASTY TREATS FROM SWEETSPOT
It’s a story about a local girl making good – finding a niche in a struggling economy and creatively marketing her product, her business and herself.
When Charmaine Yu and her partner, Chris Evans, launched Sweetspot three years ago, they concentrated on unique cupcake flavors along with gelato and frozen yogurt. Now they daily bake up cookies, brownies, cupcakes (large and small), cheesecakes and cakes for all occasions. They also make their own gelato with Evans’ specialty flavors catering to special concerns with no corn syrup, non-dairy and fat-free options. But it’s not just about the product. Yu and Evans were determined to create a “happy” environment where folks would linger. It’s working.
A wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling chalkboard represents the fun of hanging out in Sweetspot, where old and young leave their messages, marks and hearts on the wall. A small play table with toys makes for happy times for young people, while grownups sit nearby and enjoy sweet delights. Regular birthday parties crowd the play area where busy hands decorate and personalize cookies before the wrapping paper flies. “It smells like sugar’s in the air at Sweetspot,” says Yu.
Yu has approached the marketing of Sweetspot in the same way the staff greets each customer to the shop – with a warm smile and friendly greeting. With understated confidence, Yu sent out her ambassadors and began giving away samples and discount coupons to professional offices, at events in the Mt. Shasta Mall, at carnivals – wherever she could find an audience to try out her specialty cupcakes. Yu calls it “guerilla marketing.” She found early on that it pays greater dividends than more costly advertising avenues, though she also budgets for ads in major media outlets from time to time. Along with other local small businesses, Yu and Evans participate in ShopHop Redding during the spring and autumn events.
Yu attended Redding schools from the age of 10, when her family immigrated to the United States from Hong Kong and George and Imelda Yu opened Sailing Boat Restaurant on Churn Creek Road in Redding. Their daughter later left Redding to study industrial design at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, where she earned her bachelor of science degree. Yu describes what she learned about product design as a marriage between function and aesthetics.
When Yu met Evans, who graduated from Chapman University, they shared a dream to open a business together, initially in the Los Angeles area. The growing interest in televised cooking shows and trendy bakeries inspired them to act on their dream. Coming full circle, Yu found herself again in Redding, where the couple felt they could get in front of the trend rather than trying to find a place among the numerous start-up businesses in the Los Angeles area.
Though they didn’t intend to target children in their business strategy, Yu comments that the younger crowd makes up about 50 percent of their clientele. “They were the first people in Redding liking us,” she says with a smile. She would see children cry when they left the store. Now she plans $1 craft days on special occasions and summer cooking camps for her young fans. This summer, she has partnered with Fabulous Fabrics to offer camps that include crafting, sewing and cooking experiences. Yu has been in negotiations with another partner to open a second location intended primarily as a party center and a place to hold their popular cooking and craft camps.
In addition to selling bakery and frozen treats in the shop, Sweetspot provides “sweet” catering services for weddings and parties. They do some wholesale business with local restaurants as well. Yu and Evans have added a small gift shop area to the mix so guests can make it a one-stop shopping experience while visiting their storefront in the shopping complex near Chuck E. Cheese on the north end of Hilltop Drive.
Redding residents and visitors passing through have discovered the decadent joy and the “smell of sugar in the air” at Sweetspot. •
