Stacie Custer’s baking hobby started 10 years ago when she made a Scooby-Doo cake for her son’s third birthday.
That hobby officially became a business on Fe. 24, as Custer, Mike Shubert, her fiancé and co-owner, and her sons, Brayden and Jacob Custer, cut a ribbon to open Stacie’s Sweets & Eats bakeshop on N. Center Avenue In Somerset.
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‘Everybody believes in us’
Stacie’s Sweets & Eats makes decorated cakes to order, including wedding and birthday cakes, as well as novelty items such as cupcake cakes, cake pops, cookies and other custom baked goods, such as the local favorite burnt sugar cake and cupcakes.
The shop also sells take-out food items such as soup and charcuterie boxes filled with meat, cheese and crackers for a quick snack or meal.
The small storefront was packed on opening day, with family, friends, business and community leaders in attendance to congratulate Custer and his family, wishing them well on the new venture and purchasing some items to take home.
“It’s overwhelming, but in a good way,” she said about the turnout. “It’s just very humbling to see all the people who care, and everybody that has helped us. I wouldn’t have done this because I thought I could, it was because everybody believed in us.”
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Stacie’s Sweets & Eats also makes gluten free cakes and charcuterie boxes, and Custer has experience baking for customers with food allergies.
“I make an almost 100% allergy-free cake for a young client,” she said.
“I taste everything I make before it goes out. If it didn’t taste good, I wouldn’t put it out there.”
Strong support from friends and the business community
Custer, who resides in Gray, started thinking about a business more than two years ago. However, planning began in earnest about a year ago with the help of Johnstown Area Regional Industries (JARI) and Matt Reckner, Startup Alleghenies entrepreneurship and innovation coach for Somerset County.
“Over two years ago we spoke for the first time,” Reckner said at the event. “But you put in the effort to do this the right way — and your family and friends supported you.”
Custer currently has one employee, her friend Teresa Mallory. The women have been best friends since the second grade, and “she does the work of three people,” Custer said.
Stacie’s Sweets & Eats is located at 742 N. Center Ave., between Kindred Soul Apparel and the Budget Inn. The shop is open from Tuesday through Saturday, with hours from 8 am to 4:30 pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; 8 am to 6 pm on Friday and from 10 am to 2 pm on Saturday.
A limited selection of to-go items can be purchased daily, such as the soup, charcuterie boxes and some baked goods. More information can be found online at Stacie’s Sweets and Eats’ Facebook page.
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There is limited parking in front of the shop, but additional parking spaces are available for customer use at the side of the building next to Kindred Soul Apparel.
Custer hopes the business will continue to grow “bigger and better,” he said. She is interested in supplying charcuterie boxes to businesses and organizations for meetings and events, and she’s led cookie decorating classes for various clients as well.
To place an order or to talk to Custer about a custom idea or event, call 814-483-8484 or send an email to [email protected].
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Somerset bakeshop Stacie’s Sweets & Eats opens on N. Center Avenue