Directories
Quick Searches
Find a Job
Quick Search
For Employers
Yahoo! HotJobs Local Search
North County woman fulfills her craving with Cupcake Love
By PAM KRAGEN - Staff Writer | ∞
Ilene Lamb, owner of the new Cupcake Love store in Solana Beach, poses with a few of her creations. (Photo courtesy of Laura Hodges) SOLANA BEACH ---- Last year, Ilene Lamb was craving a cupcake like she had tasted on a vacation with her husband and two daughters, but when she went hunting for a cupcake shop near her Rancho Santa Fe home, she came up empty.
So last fall, Lamb quit her marketing job for Simon Properties (owner of Fashion Valley mall) and set about opening her own store ---- Cupcake Love, which hosted its grand opening last week, in the Beachwalk Shopping Center.
Cupcake Love offers individual cupcakes ($3 each), "Love Bite" mini-cupcakes ($1.75), cupcakes by the dozen, brownies and bar cookies, as well as gift items such as cake plates, candles and beauty products (such as hand cream that smells just like buttercream frosting).
At least a dozen cupcake flavors are available daily, with varieties changing regularly. Some of this month's offerings are Toasted Coconut Cream Dream, Fancy Pants Red Velvet, Vanilla Bliss, Cinnamon Swirl Dream, Chocolate Sin, Oooh La La Spice and a grand-opening special with champagne cake and pink champagne icing.
With her background in marketing, Lamb wants to focus her business on special orders for corporate clients and parties.
"Lots of companies send wines and cookie bouquets to clients. We want to make cupcakes the new client gift," said Lamb, who said she built such a large industrial kitchen in her 1,500-square-foot Solana Beach space that she'll never outgrow it. "I want to open two more retail shops in San Diego by the end of next year, but this kitchen will serve all three stores."
One of her shop's key marketing tools is the Cupcake Love carrier, a custom-made pink-and-black box with a special insert to keep cupcakes from sliding around and getting their frosting smudged. For special orders, cupcakes can be made in any flavor, color or variety or even with a corporate logo stenciled on top.
Cupcake Love had a soft opening on Nov. 12, and by day two, Lamb said she already had a half-dozen special orders for birthday parties. She said she's also having a hard time keeping the Love Bites on the shelf.
"We're really excited about the response already, and we think it's going to be a big success," she said.
Cupcake Love
Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays
Where: 437 S. Highway 101, Suite 106, Beachwalk Shopping Center, Solana Beach
Call: (858) 755-5506
Web: www.cupcake-love.com
More Stories
Advertisement
- Burst pipe causes 70-foot-deep sink hole in Carlsbad (2501)
- REGION: State green power plan will cost consumers billions (1487)
- HOUSING: Fraud victims struggle to regain cash, credit (1412)
- REGION: Talk of new immigration bill gets mixed reaction (1130)
- VISTA: Grocer brothers suspected of threatening former butcher (1049)
Advertisement