{"id":4351,"date":"2021-10-05T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-05T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dream.press\/?post_type=customer-spotlight&p=4351"},"modified":"2025-05-06T20:21:11","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T20:21:11","slug":"jcakes-bakery","status":"publish","type":"customer-spotlight","link":"https:\/\/news.dream.press\/news\/customer-spotlight\/jcakes-bakery\/","title":{"rendered":"JCakes Bakery: How a Longtime Connecticut Staple Flourished over the Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Most kids ask for new coloring books or a bike when they\u2019re growing up. But unlike most kids, Hope Looney wanted fancy cake decorating books \u2014 and that\u2019s what her mother and grandmother bought her. Despite her love for making fancy cakes as a kid, it wasn\u2019t what Looney became when she grew up . . . at first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After earning a degree in finance, Looney realized she wasn\u2019t happy in her career in the healthcare industry. So, she decided to make a change and went to culinary school instead. She enrolled in Norwalk Community College, where her professors knew her passion for cakes, so they tailored her education to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI took all the pastry courses,\u201d Looney says. \u201cWhen it came to presentation projects, I was able to just use cakes, instead of having to make croissants and bread.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baking a Better Future<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Yet after she earned her culinary certificate, Looney was frustrated that she couldn\u2019t find a job at a bakery. She needed healthcare and ended up working as a software trainer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOriginally, I hoped to open up a bakery in California \u2014 that\u2019s where I went to college.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A year later, however, in February of 2007, an opportunity came up. It was true kismet: JCakes, a bakery in North Branford, Connecticut (where she was raised) was for sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a bakery that I had grown up with as a kid,\u201d Looney says. \u201cWe got all our cakes from it. I kept in contact with the owner while I was in culinary school, and then she decided she wanted to sell it. The bakery I idolized as a kid growing up was even more exciting for us. We didn\u2019t want to let the bakery close either, because that\u2019s probably what would have happened. I had never really worked in a bakery before. I did stuff on my own, but it was never in that environment, so it was a fast learning curve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"JCakes<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ready for the challenge, Looney bought JCakes and dove right in. The first hurdle to cross: How to retain the bakery\u2019s loyal customers while putting her spin on the business?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI basically kept the same menu, formulas, and recipes,\u201d Looney recalls. \u201cI added new cakes to the menu one at a time, along with cupcakes. But I didn\u2019t want to veer too far off from what she was doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prior owner was a one-woman show, so Looney grew production and brought on staff. She\u2019s now up to 12 employees. \u201cIt\u2019s rewarding supplying jobs to people in the community,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Love at First Site<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

But growing the team wasn\u2019t the way Looney chose to grow the business. She knew the bakery needed a digital presence too. So in 2007, she launched JCakes.com<\/a>, and a Facebook<\/a> page followed in 2008.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt started out as a one-page website,\u201d Looney says. \u201cSlowly, we would add to it, piece by piece. It was definitely a work in progress. We\u2019ve changed things, and we\u2019ve upgraded. We\u2019ve probably redone the site five times now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"JCakes.com<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To spearhead the technical aspects of the website, Looney enlisted her good friend, Pete Kuhn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen Hope needed something quickly, I naturally recommended DreamHost,\u201d he says. \u201cWe started on their affordable-yet-reliable shared hosting<\/a> and in time moved on to a higher-level DreamPress plan<\/a> seamlessly. DreamHost offers honest, quality hosting. They never try to upsell, yet offer great perks and top-notch support. I cannot say enough about DreamHost support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, JCakes.com primarily uses WordPress<\/a> as its CMS. \u201cWe employ a variety of customizations and plugins and extended this further during the pandemic,\u201d Kuhn says. \u201cThe need for online ordering became urgent, and the WordPress platform offered the most cost-effective solution in WooCommerce<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Since the wedding industry is so competitive, it\u2019s crucial to have a website that gives you an edge. \u201cJCakes.com is the virtual storefront and lead generation engine for the shop,\u201d Kuhn says. \u201cWe showcase products and can share exciting press, news, and seasonal releases. Online ordering streamlines some of the back and forth of custom orders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"JCakes<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Like the menu, the JCakes website has evolved over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJCakes started with a single page, non-interactive website,\u201d Kuhn says. \u201cOver time, as content and imagery was accumulated, we were able to move into a more catalog-type site. Soon after, powerful forms were employed to allow for easier conversation and custom orders. The latest evolution was the deployment of true online ordering.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related:<\/strong> How to Set up Curbside Pickup and Delivery Through Your Website<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spreading the Word<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To grow brand awareness for JCakes, Kuhn is always pushing for better search engine optimization<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGoogle\u2019s suite of tools helps keep this all in line,\u201d he says. \u201cGoogle has been a key partner, in fact, as the photos, reviews, and local information features of search results have been critical to success. It helps power those \u2018cake near me\u2019 type searches, as well as creating a virtual \u2018word of mouth\u2019 type recognition. We also employ Google\u2019s suite of productivity tools<\/a>, so our email is cleanly integrated and from the correct domain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having a functional and mobile-friendly website obviously helps drive growth, Kuhn notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis requires steady maintenance<\/a> and considerations for improvement,\u201d he says. \u201cDoes our theme still do what we want? Are the forms reporting properly? Are the galleries dragging down our site speed? There are many things to be on top of! Without vigilance, websites can break down \u2014 or worse, fall behind the times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to marketing the site, Looney admits she doesn\u2019t have a formal social media strategy<\/a>. \u201cI wish I did; unfortunately that gets put on the backburner,\u201d Looney says. \u201cThe biggest thing is posting pictures \u2014 that\u2019s what draws attention and keeps everyone engaged.\u201d She posts about new flavors or holiday treats, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor the pandemic, I focused heavily on cupcake sales. That certainly kept us busy, when people could order online and pick up right away, because I would keep the inventory in real time so you could always see what we had at the store.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n