Fresh start in a new location

Rich Palzewic

Staff

October 14, 2024

CRANDON – Wanting a more visible location in Crandon, Carmen Stamper, owner of BC Cakes & More, said a move of a few blocks has made all the difference in the world.

“Where we used to be (at 304 North Lake Ave.), a lot of people didn’t know we were even there,” she said. “The new location (102 North Lake Ave.) is a lot busier – I’ve gotten a lot of positive comments that way. I always wanted to be by the other three or four little shops on Lake Avenue, so I decided moving locations would be best. Now we’re right by the other shops next to Tricia’s Treasures – we’re in a more central location.”

Stamper said BC Cakes & More has a sister location in Rhinelander, which is owned by her sister Brooke.

“Brooke owns the Rhinelander store, and I own the Crandon location,” she said. “We offer mostly the same things in each store, but we do a few different things daily.”

The shop, Stamper said, has five or six different flavors of cupcakes, as well as cookies, brownies, bars and cheesecakes.

“We always have something in the case to sell, and then cakes are custom ordered,” she said. “We also have frosted cookies, scones, cinnamon rolls, breads, protein balls, cake pops, edible cookie dough, doughnuts and some gluten-free/dairy-free options.”

Stamper said weddings take up a lot of their time – “sometimes we even have to close the shops to get all the wedding work done.”

“Between our Crandon and Rhinelander stores, we do between 60-100 weddings a year,” she said. “We make everything from scratch from the cake/cupcake batter, fillings, frostings and garnishes. We also do cheesecakes, cookies, cake pops and bars have been popular at weddings the past few years. It all takes planning and time to prep as we do all our baking for the orders the day before pickup or delivery for weddings.”

More on the new location

Stamper said the new location wasn’t turn-key, “so a fair amount of work went into getting it ready.”

“For the new store, we had to pretty much do a full remodel and make a full kitchen,” she said. “We put in all new flooring and also did plumbing, bathroom, building walls, installing a new drop ceiling, kitchen cabinets, sinks, ovens and more.”

Stamper said the 102 North Lake Ave. location has “a lot more space.”

“We have some candy now,” she said. “In Crandon, we do coffees, shakes, tea, that sort of thing – which we did before, but we didn’t have the best set up for it, so now I think it’s properly set up.”

With both locations “doing quite well,” Stamper said the sisters eyed Eagle River at one point for a third location, but eventually decided against it.

“There’s really nothing (as for bakeries) up there, but the problem is finding help,” she said. “With the exception of some additional summer help we get, my sister and I usually handle things ourselves.”

A love for baking

Unlike some bakers who go the culinary route in college, Stamper said that was not the case for her and her sister.

“We don’t have professional baking backgrounds,” she said. “A lot of it is self-taught. We did a lot of baking with our grandma growing up as well as with my mom. When we were in college, there really wasn’t anything in the area for custom cakes and stuff like that. We started on the side in our homes, and once we got busy enough, we opened a storefront.”

Stamper said all the BC Cakes’ baking is done in-house.

“At each of our locations, we don’t get our products elsewhere – it’s all done by us,” she said.

How it began

Stamper said BC Cakes & More originally opened in Crandon – “10 years ago this spring.”

“My sister and I started baking out of our home probably about 12 years ago,” she said. “We did that for a few years and then decided we wanted a storefront, so that’s when we moved into our first location in Crandon. My sister lives in Rhinelander, so that’s why she runs that store.”

Stamper said during the COVID-19 pandemic, both BC Cakes & More locations closed for about a month.

“We did a lot of pre-orders then and flash sales,” she said. “People just came in and picked things up. We were probably a little busier than normal because people were shopping more locally.”

For more on BC Cakes & More, visit the store’s Facebook page.