Tag Archives: Great Cakes

You Can Save Great Cakes Today!

Posted on January 30, 2013 | 41 comments

Sarah Green — one of the founders of Kool To Be Kind — saw this morning’s “06880” post on the dire straits of Great Cakes.

Owner Rick Dickinson has always been kind to her organization. She emailed me:

great-cakes-logoLynne Goldstein, Cindy Eigen and I are in Great Cakes right now brainstorming ways to save this wonderful local business. Basically, Rick needs $4,000 by tomorrow. If people will come in TODAY and give $100 or $200  for a prepaid account, he can make it … for now.

We need to save the man’s business. Here is someone who was struggling but STILL donated  to K2BK, for example. We as a community can save him!

Is there any way you can blog this now?

Done!

41 Comments

Posted in Local business, Organizations, People

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Great Cakes’ Not-Great News

Posted on January 30, 2013 | 96 comments

The Law of Unintended Consequences says that actions always have unanticipated effects.

One unintended consequence of last year’s ban on cupcakes at school birthday celebrations may be felt tomorrow.

Great Cakes — the 30-year-old bakery near Bertucci’s — may close.

Rick Dickinson, and his great goods.

Rick Dickinson, and his great goods.

Rick Dickinson — who for 22 years has generously donated his cookies, sheet cakes and, yes, cupcakes, to any organization that asks — says that school cupcakes were 15% of his business.

His landlord has been very understanding, but business — always slow in the months between the holidays and Easter — is just too tough this year.

Tomorrow, Rick says, may be his last day.

96 Comments

Posted in Children, Local business, People

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Great Cakes Petitions To End Cupcake War

Posted on June 30, 2012 | 33 comments

For 22 years, Rick Dickinson has generously donated his Great Cakes creations to Westport schools. Cookies for bake sales, sheet cakes for celebrations — whatever they ask for, he gives.

At the same time, many Westport parents buy Great Cakes cupcakes for their kids’ classroom birthday parties.

Recently — and very unwittingly — Rick was drawn into a food fight on “06880.”

Great Cakes owner Rick Dickinson, with the most controversial food item in town.

It began with a post about a recent note from school district administrators, saying that cupcakes and sweets will no longer be allowed at birthday celebrations.

77 comments later, readers had weighed in on everything from the weight of Westport children, to a variety of parenting styles, to the taste-vs.-healthfulness of Great Cakes cupcakes.

Rick — the owner — is fed up. This week he set up a petition on his counter. It reads:

Great Cakes Supports Westport’s Youth

We support all efforts to promote good health among the youth of Westport, CT.

We only use the best ingredients in our products.

We advise parents to purchase our small cupcakes, or divide items into fourths for in-school celebrations.

We offer to divide our products for parents free of charge.

We strive to avoid the use of any ingredients that are generally acknowledged to cause allergic reactions among children.

We have supported all efforts in Westport to promote child safety, non-bullying, good health and proper nutrition for our children.

PLEASE Support Great Cakes In Our Petition to Rescind the Ban on Food in School Celebrations

Rick hopes Westporters will stop by Great Cakes to sign the petition.

I hope that if you do, you also help support Rick’s long-standing generosity to Westport schools (and many other causes).

Buy a great cake. A bagel. Coffee.

Maybe even (ssshhh) a cupcake.

 

33 Comments

Posted in Children, Education, Local business, People

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(Not So) Sweet Celebrations

Posted on June 19, 2012 | 85 comments

An “06880” reader attended yesterday’s 5th grade graduation at Green’s Farms Elementary. When he was not riveted by the proceedings, he chatted with parents and teachers. One of the topics was a recent note sent from school district administrators, noting that cupcakes and sweets will no longer be allowed at birthday celebrations.

The alert reader writes:

While I am absolutely in favor of the move — for many reasons — it was pointed out that our friends at Great Cakes would now lose a big chunk of their business.

As a huge proponent of local merchants, this concerns me. I hope our friends at Great Cakes can figure out how to make up for the lost revenue. Maybe through creative marketing (“Birthdays just wouldn’t be the same without Great Healthy Cupcakes!”).

He also wonders if “06880” readers have any ideas for Great Cakes (or its sweet competitors). Click “Comments” (and send samples to me).

Is this the future for Bonnie and Rick at Great Cakes?

85 Comments

Posted in Children, Education, Local business

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Best Of The Rest

Posted on May 14, 2011 | 9 comments

Last week, “06880” lamented the lack of respect for Westport restaurants in Fairfield County Weekly’s annual readers’ poll.

The 2nd part of the survey is out — covering stores, banks, even doctors — and we’ve fared a bit better.

Winners include:

The incomparable Sally White.

Sally’s Place for “Best Independent CD/Vinyl Store.”  Such shops are fading faster than Donald Trump’s presidential hopes, but as the Weekly notes, owner Sally White is “one of a kind…. Die-hard music fans love Sally’s, and because White’s operation is so nimble, she can accommodate the special orders bigger stores can’t.”  The Weekly‘s readers nailed this one — as Sally’s fan Keith Richards also attests.

Plumed Serpent wins “Best Bridal Salon.”  I know as much about this category as Pakistan claims to have known about bin Laden, but here goes:  “Plumed Serpent, a multiple-year winner, is renowned for its selection of tasteful, stylish, higher-end dresses and excellent customer service.”  That’s almost enough to make me want to walk down the aisle, in a gown.

But a guy’s gotta look good too.  Fortunately, Men’s Wearhouse (4 locations, including Westport) wins for “Best Place for Tuxedos.”  The Weekly cites the chain’s “broad selection of styles and prices and oodles of shops.”  Sweet.

Bonnie and Rick, the great team at Great Cakes.

Speaking of sweet — and weddings — the “Best Place to Buy Your Wedding Cake” is Great Cakes.  I’m more into the  early-morning coffee — and the chance to see everyone from builder Bill Kashetta to surgeon Alan Meinke — but the crew in the back turn out awesome wedding cakes, all from scratch.  Owner Rick Dickinson is often told that his creations taste as good as they look — and how often do you say that about a wedding cake?

Another entry in the okay-I-believe-you department is Soleil Toile (“Best Lingerie Store [Non-Chain]”).  The Weekly praises the store’s attention to proper fit, and “very broad array of sizes and body types.”  O-kay…

Moving quickly along, the “Best Bank” is People’s United.  Ours shares the honor with other locations in the county, but New England’s largest bank earns props for their many locations, community service, and “expert bankers who can do loans and investments.”  (Um, isn’t that what bankers are supposed to do?)

Westport’s final winner is Dr. Mark Oestreicher.  He’s Fairfield County’s “Best Dermatologist.”  Once again, the Weekly voters have made a thoughtful, inspired decision.  Nothing rash about this one at all.

9 Comments

Posted in Local business, People, Restaurants

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Cupcakes Say Spain

Posted on July 11, 2010 | 3 comments

Paul the Octopus has gained worldwide fame for correctly predicting all of German’s results — 5 wins and 2 ties — in the World Cup.

In Westport, we’ve got cupcakes.

Rick Dickinson — owner of Great Cakes — says “people are really into” the tournament, including this afternoon’s final between Spain and the Netherlands.

Spain is the overwhelming favorite — not just with bettors and TV analysts, but with Westporters.

How do we know?

Most of Great Cakes’ bakery customers have requested the Spanish flag and colors.

Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m.  Though most of Rick’s great cakes may be gone by then.

3 Comments

Posted in Local business, Sports

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Back In Business

Posted on March 17, 2010 | 2 comments

Bonnie and Rick at Great Cakes this morning. The cakes and cookies are gone -- but they've got plenty of bagels and coffee, and are baking right now.

The shelves are a bit bare at places like Great Cakes, Calise’s and Organic Market.  But the power is finally back on — and mom-and-pop places need customers.

Rick Dickinson of Great Cakes threw out several thousand dollars worth of inventory.  He is re-stocking now.  Stop by, say hi — and buy whatever you can.

2 Comments

Posted in Local business

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Support Our Own

Posted on March 15, 2010 | Comments Off on Support Our Own

Great Cakes owner Rick Dickinson is 1 of many local business owners affected by the storm.

Calise’s, Great Cakes and Organic Market are only 3 of the many local stores shut since Saturday by the storm’s power outage.

And there’s no telling when the juice will be back on.

Losing daily customers — and so many perishable items — can devastate small merchants.

Whenever these guys open, let’s all make an extra-special effort to give them our business.

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Posted in Local business, Weather

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Our Town Crier

Posted on February 10, 2010 | 1 comment

Heard you can get 25% off all supplements at Fountain of Youth?

A free in-home consultation from Making Faces by Debbie?  Two free children’s classes at Dynamic Martial Arts?  A $20 blowout at Roots Salon?

Probably not.  Then again, OurTownCrier.com — the website offering these exclusive deals — has been live for only a day or 2.

The site — linking local small businesses with Westporters seeking promotions and bargains — is the brainchild of Betsy Pollak.  A former small businesswoman herself — she owned Sundries Gifts and Homewares in Sconset Square for 5 years, and Westport Gift below Sally’s Place for 7 — she’s closely attuned to the challenges faced by stores not named Gap or Banana Republic.

“Small business owners are overwhelmed,” she says.  “They’re trying to make it in a tough economy, and because they’ve had to lay off staff, they’re having to do it all themselves.”

Spending all their time on basic functions, they can’t think about things like promotions and websites.  So Betsy does it for them.

She advises them how to grow their businesses; takes photos; then gives them an internet presence at minimal cost.  Some — like Great Cakes and Sally’s Place — have never been in cyberspace before.

What they get — and users see — is a clean, easy-to-navigate site, with sections including “Browse by Business Type,” “Featured Promotions,” “Business Spotlight” (Wild Pear and Max’s Art Supplies are in the current rotation), and “Upcoming Events” (like “Basics of Barbeque Cooking” at Bobby Q’s).

“I feel useful,” Betsy says.  “As a small business owner I felt run down.  Now I’m rejuvenated.”

Valentine’s Day offers a great opportunity for local promotions.  Traffic on OurTownCrier.com will build by word of mouth, but for now even a few additional customers are important to local businesses, Betsy says.

“The cost of business anywhere in town — let alone Main Street — is out of control,” she notes.  “You spend $1,000 a month in electric bills alone.

“But we need each other.  Westporters want a town without chain stores everywhere.  And small business want appreciative customers.”

In very old days, town criers gave citizens the news.  In the mid-20th century, the Town Crier was Westport’s local newspaper.  Today we get news of promotions and bargains — and businesses reach customers — with OurTownCrier.com.

Westport is still a small town after all.

1 Comment

Posted in Economy, Local business, People

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Coffee Complications

Posted on December 10, 2009 | 37 comments

It was a simple request, repeated dozens of times a day in Westport:

“Let’s have coffee.  Where should we go?”

Then my friend added a caveat:  “Besides Starbucks.”

The list of options dwindled dramatically.

Westporters — and the world — has a love/hate relationship with Starbucks.  Globally the chain has been pilloried for gross corporate commodification, introducing pseudo-sophisticated quasi-Italian complications into the formerly simple act of ordering a cup of coffee, exploiting third world farmers, and driving small shops out of business.

On the plus side, they have Wi-Fi.

Locally, the downtown location weirds me out.  The seating area is dark; the tables are in the wrong spot (they should face the river, not Klaff’s); it’s cramped, and not always, um, clean.

The 2nd location — “the Starbucks by the diner” — is better, provided you don’t mind listening to bad music just loud enough to be irritating.  It’s airier and roomier; there’s more parking, and if you’re lucky you can snag 1 of the 4 comfy chairs from the 50 people who park themselves there all day, laptopping their consulting projects, novel writing, porn-watching, or whatever it is they do in the seat I want to sit in.

The 3rd Starbucks — in Barnes & Noble — is reserved for tutors and tutees; Craigslist users meeting in public before hooking up to be sure the other person is not an ax murderer, and consultants and novelists who couldn’t get a comfy chair at the Starbucks by the diner.

The 4th Starbucks doesn’t count, because it’s in Super Stop & Shop.

So what’s the alternative?

If this was Fairfield, we’d go to Las Vetas Lounge.  If it was Norwalk:  Sono Caffeine.  If we were in Seattle we would be so paralyzed by choices, we’d never decide.

But this is Westport.  And despite being the most fabulous, hip, cool, wealthy and splendiferous spot on earth, our coffee shop choices suck.

Coffee An’ has great donuts, but it lacks ambience.

Great Cakes has Rick, Bonnie, and 3 little tables.

Doc’s is nice, but it’s in Saugatuck.  In Westport distances that’s like the galaxy Zork.

So after intensive deliberations, my friend and I decided on the perfect spot.  We’ll meet next week for coffee at a nice little place.  It’s got 4 comfy chairs, and parking.

See you at Starbucks!

37 Comments

Posted in Downtown, Local business, Westport life

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