Sweets Bakeshop owner reveals future of new bakery

Bethany Dick

New things are brewing at Sweets' Minneapolis location--like Kopplin's coffee.

​ Sweets Bakeshop opened its second location last Friday, and while many of you probably visited the Nicollet Avenue shop for free salted caramel cupcakes, you likely didn't get the full scoop on what sets this bakery apart from the St. Paul location, what's ahead for the new shop, and why things weren't as immaculately displayed as you might have expected.

We stopped by recently to take a peek inside, grab some goodies, and talk with co-owner Krista Steinbach about what's on the horizon for Sweets.

Shauna Younge

Friendly faces greet you at Sweet's new location--but why aren't there more display cases?.

​Once inside, you'll notice some of the characteristic charm that you're familiar with in the bakery's St. Paul location. Large red and pink paper hearts trail across the wall in Valentine's Day anticipation. Although the light blue walls and seasonal decor are the same, the rest of the shop's interior is drastically different than the Sweets we're used to. Rather than a long bank of display cases and a wall of shelves showcasing beautifully arranged desserts, the new location features only one small case and shelves of undecorated cakes. After checking out the sweet selection, we sat down with Steinbach to talk about the new shop.

Shauna Younge

Free samples made the selection especially sweet.

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Shauna Younge

Valentine's is in full effect at the new shop.

​It looks so different than the St. Paul location. Was that the plan?
This weekend is really our soft open, and we don't have all of our display cases in place yet. They were supposed to arrive this week, but they're coming from Dallas and got delayed by the snow storm. But once they're here, it will look at lot more similar to the St. Paul store.

Shauna Younge

Take off your coat and stay a while--another change from the St. Paul shop.

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But that's not the only thing that looks different. These seating areas are new.
We have a little more space here than we do in St. Paul, so we can have a couch and larger tables for people to stay and lounge. We also have a beverage case here, so we can offer bottled water, Pellegrino, milk, and chocolate milk. We can't do that in St. Paul, so it's nice to have it here.

You also have coffee and tea, which aren't at the other location.
Yeah, we're carrying Tea Source peppermint and Jasmine tea and Kopplin's Colombian blend. We're also offering a press pot service, so each customer gets their own individually ground, brewed-to-order press pot of coffee delivered to their table. Our tea is also loose leaf, so it will be brewed in the same way. In the future, we'll collaborate with Kopplin's to offer dessert and coffee pairings. That way, customers will know which coffees complement each dessert best. Certain coffees go with certain flavors, and we want to make it a whole experience.

That's a great idea! You wouldn't want your dessert to overpower your coffee or vice versa. What else do you have planned for the shop?
We'll do all of our experimenting with the menu here before introducing new items to the St. Paul store. We want to offer more than cupcakes and macarons, so we're going to team up with different local vendors to add merchandise to the shop, like cards. We're also going to expand our tea and coffee flavors in the future. And because we have more space, customers can rent the bakery for small baby showers, bridal showers, and birthday parties.