Dozen Bake Shop

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Dozen Bake Shop
File:Dozen Bake Shop logo.png
Restaurant information
Established December 26, 2006 (2006-12-26)
Closed September 30, 2013 (2013-09-30)
Current owner(s) Doreen Valentine
Food type Bakery
City Pittsburgh
State Pennsylvania
Website dozenbakeshop.com

Dozen Bake Shop was a bakery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While a variety of baked goods and other dishes were offered, cupcakes were Dozen's specialty and featured product.[1]

It was founded in late 2006 by James Gray, a graduate of Chicago Culinary Institute.[2] The opening came amid a national cupcake trend, leading Gray to believe that the time was right to open a cupcake-heavy bakery in Pittsburgh, as he believed that the trend had already played out in New York City or Chicago.[2] Andew Twigg was a co-owner with Gray.[3]

The bakery developed a strong brand and a social media presence, using Facebook and Twitter to alert customers of daily specials and other offers.[4] The Twitter account became one of the most popular in Pittsburgh.[5] Dozen Bake Shop is the official cupcake of the Pittsburgh Penguins and their cupcakes are available at the Consol Energy Center.[6]

The baking philosophy focused on using local sourcing, especially local produce and herbs.[7][8]

The "Elvis" was a featured item; it was a banana cupcake with chocolate hazelnut filling, topped with peanut butter buttercream icing.[9] Baker Megan Hart introduced edible roses in 2012.[10]

History

File:Dozen Bake Shop in Lawrenceville.jpg
The storefront in the Lawrenceville location.

The first Dozen Bakeshop location, a 700 sq ft (65 m2) storefront, opened in Squirrel Hill on December 26, 2006.[2] During 2007, the bakery made $340,000 in sales.[2] By the end of 2007, the Pittsburgh City Paper named Dozen the "Best place to indulge your sweet tooth."[11]

In January 2008, 1,300 sq ft (120 m2) bakery was opened in Lawrenceville, allowing Dozen to expand into catering.[7] By then, the bakery had 9 employees.[9] During the first half of 2009, two locations opened, a 250 sq ft (23 m2) storefront on Liberty Avenue in Downtown and at The Andy Warhol Museum on the North Shore.[8] In October 2009, a 555 sq ft (51.6 m2) location opened on Carson Street in the South Side.[3][12]

In fall 2010, Dozen closed two existing locations, South Side and Squirrel Hill, and opened a new location in Oakland.[13] The Southside location had bad parking and did not mesh well with the bar-heavy ambiance of the neighborhood.[13] The Squirrel Hill location had no room to expand. It was hoped that the Oakland location, with easy access to Pitt and CMU, would be a better fit for the bakery.[13] In early 2011, Dozen Bake Shop was named a Pittsburgh "city favorite" by the New York Post.[14] A "Cupcake Truck," for mobile cupcakery was acquired.[15] A short time later, the business, which by then had 18 to 20 employees, was in trouble and was put up for sale.[16] Sales were down by 50%, from a peak annual revenue of $1 million; loans were coming due.[16] By July 2011, the two remaining locations, Lawrenceville and Oakland were closed after a "farewell" bake sale.[1]

In August 2011, Dozen re-opened under the new ownership of Doreen Valentine, who hired 4 new bakers.[17] According to Valentine, it was not the quality or brand that had failed.[17] Instead, she believed that Dozen had been doomed by too rapid of expansion that left too little capital for operations, a mistake she would not repeat.[17] Megan Hart, a Pittsburgh native who competed in TLC's Reality television contest show Cake Boss: Next Great Baker's 2nd season, joined the staff in February 2012.[18]

In May 2013, the Oakland location was closed and a new location opened in South Hills at Donaldson's Crossroads in Peters Township.[19]

In September 2013, it was announced that all Dozen locations will close by the end of the month.[20]

The former owner, James Gray, went on to revive Fritz Pastry in Chicago.[21]

Gallery

  • Bloggers at Dozen Bake Shop.jpg

    Customers eating a cupcake sampler in 2011

  • Cupcake of the day at Dozen Bake Shop.jpg

    A sign showing Cupcake of the Day. Note that the Elvis is on Wednesday and the East End Chocolate Stout is Thursday

  • Dozen Bake Shop case.jpg

    The bakery display

  • Doreen, owner of Dozen Bake Shop.jpg

    Owner Doreen Valentine discusses cupcakes with visitors

  • A cosmo flavored cupcake

References

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External links

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  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  20. ↑ https://twitter.com/dozenbakeshop/status/382277476615196672
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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