I drove by Cakes for Occasions, the well known Danvers bakery, two weeks ago, and this sign (posted in their window) broke my heart. Today we’re introducing owner Kelly Delaney (and her husband Frank) and sharing how you can continue to support this longtime small business, during this unprecedented time.
What is the name of your business and where is it located?
Cakes for Occasions located at 57 Maple Street in Danvers, Massachusetts.
What is your name and what town do you live in?
My name is Kelly Delaney and my husband is Frank Delaney. We have two kids, 14 and 15 year-old girls and we live in Danvers.
What type of goods or services do you provide?
Before COVID-19 hit, we were a custom designed cake shop that specialized in birthday, shower, wedding and retirement cakes. We had to put our custom designed cakes on hold until after this whole situation passes. So in the meantime, we have switched gears to accommodate the situation and peoples needs, since there are no more gatherings allowed and it’s all about social distancing.
We now offer 6″ and 8″ cakes only. We refer to them as “Stir Crazy Cakes,” along with individual desserts, miniature pastries, cupcakes, whoopie pies, brownies and decorating kits for the kids like cupcake kits, cake kits, cookie kits and cannoli kits.
How long have you been in business?
We have been in business for 24 years
Why did you choose to open a business on the North Shore?
I am from Marblehead and my husband is from Danvers. We choose Danvers in the beginning since it is easily accessible from the highways (Rt 1, Rt 128, Rt 95) and it is surrounded by many, many communities.
How has the COVID-19 crisis impacted your business?
Being in the hospitality industry, this has demolished business as usual. Last week alone, it took 5 days of sales to gross what we used to do in 1 day.
Are you currently offering any delivery, shipping or curbside pick-up of your goods or services?
Absolutely, we offer delivery, curbside pick-up and we can have customers come in to the shop to pick up. There are never more than 3 customers in the store at once.
What is one way that the moms (or all residents) can help your business survive during this difficult time?
We have some really great cookie kits and cupcake kits that the children are loving. They are $19.95 each. The cookie kit comes with 1 dozen cookies and the cupcake kit comes with 6 cupcakes. If a mom tries a kit with their kids, we would love if they could tell all their friends about how much fun the kids are having with them, or take photos of the kids decorating and post it on Facebook or Instagram so that we could share it. That would really help spread the word. You can also find us on Instagram at @cakesforoccasions and on Facebook at @cakesforoccasions.
We are a nut-free bakery as well, so there are a lot of kids out there that can’t eat nuts and we are a safe haven for them to enjoy lots of great treats!
Name another business that could benefit from the support of the North Shore Moms community.
I have a friend of mine named Brittany Dupont-Raesly who owns Daily Harvest Cafe in Danvers. She is a mother of 2 and a very hard worker!
On a lighter note, name one fun or relaxing way you are using your time at home during this crisis. Unfortunately, being a small business owner we are totally opposite of what you hear about with people being able to spend more time with their children. We actually have seen them less now because we had to lay off all our employees and my husband and I have been working from 8 to 5 pm, 7 days a week. We come home, feed them dinner, then are in bed by 8 pm. We had more family time before COVID-19.