Sweet Tooth Settles In
A question the seems to be on the tip of a lot of tongues these days is, "How's Sweet Tooth doing at the corner of Allen and Elmwood?" They ask the question mostly because they curious how a business does when it moves from Elmwood to Allentown, especially a business that is so dependant on families. I decided to stop in today to see first hand how the sweet shop was doing, and how they fared from the move.
I was fortunate to be able to drag Day Manager, Amanda Robertson-Baroni, away from her duties for a minute. It was a good thing too, because Amanda joined the crew at Sweet Tooth in February '01, so she was a versed with operations of both shops. "We don't see the foot traffic that we used to at the old location, but we are busier than we ever were back then," she told me. I asked her what has made up for the difference and she answered, "At night we are jammed from all of the restaurant activity. We get a ton of people stopping in for dessert before they get back into their cars. And during the day we are swamped with kids from the weekend shows at the Allendale Theater and their evening performances keep us busy too."
I then asked whether the Elmwood Village Charter School has made an impact. "Those kids are so cute... and every time a train of them walk by they always wave and tap on the windows. We really enjoy seeing them. There is a mother and daughter that stop in every day after school for a milk and cupcake... every day! I am amazed by all of the kids that we see in here. When we first moved I wondered whether we would see as many kids. I'm happy to see that they are everywhere down here."
As we spoke I noticed a table of grown-ups and kids sharing a table. I asked them what brought them to Sweet Tooth and they told me they had just seen The Nutcracker Ballet at Shea's. It was the first time that the family had been to the new Sweet Tooth and they informed me that they used to frequent the shop's former digs all the time because it was in their neighborhood. I remember when Sweet Tooth first decided to move... some people thought that they would never see the traffic that the first location attracted. Now there is new Sweet Tooth signage on the building and fledgling businesses popping up around them (Steel Crazy, Krudmart, Skunk Tail, etc), but it is the new kids on the block that are propelling Sweet Tooth towards becoming a serious anchor on the North-West corner of Elmwood and Allen.
The store front facade needs a face lift badly. The last store front they had was so inviting, this one not so much. The building has so much potential but needs a little more love, meaning get rid of the cheep wood below and above the windows and put back the historic window transom’s that were once above the current windows. I do however love the treats they have there.
Had a beautiful apartment in that building, long ago (at the 106 Elmwood door - 6 big rooms, 6 closets, bath, pantry, 2 gas fireplaces) .. nice to see the place being put to good use !
My daughter and I visited them today. In my opinion, they haven't missed a beat!
Been a constant consumer of their cookies for nearly 20 years, but Lord I wish they would get a designer or decorator in there. It just looks so grim both inside and outside. But I wish them lots of success.
Will there ever be a beautiful old style cafe in Buffalo?
Yeah, I am glad to hear that they are doing well. I was worried that they wouldn't make it, and that would be bad for the nieghborhood. I agree that the place needs a facelift and wonder why they haven't done anything with it yet. or get the owner to invest in it. That part of allentown and of the city is my favorite and I feel one of the most important barometers of how allentown is doing. ON a slightly different note what that part of allentown needs is a family friendly pizza shop that could also cater to the late night crowd. It would be a gold mine. A good place would be Jesse's place at the end of allen near days park.
While the treats are as good as ever, the interior is as UNinviting as it gets. I get in and get out ASAP. U-G-L-Y! But....I'm thrilled that they are doing well and welcome them to the neighborhood.
I do like the way they do some of the baking right in the front store window. It's kind of cool to see that exposed.
Just seeing this post makes me want to drive over there and get the best hot fudge sunday in WNY!
Parkside Candies on Main St. in the University Heights has a mighty fine hot fudge sunday, they have my best in WNY vote.
I hate to say it out loud, but unfortunatly it is a pity they did not put much effort into the visuals, even though it is welcome asset to Allentown and I LOVE having them here, they just don't look inviting from the street. It's just sorta "blah" looking.
I have a suspicion that the business does not stand or fall on walk-in retail trade. I think that supplying restaurants with pastries is their bread and butter. I was in there once when they were loading up a truck with an enormous pile of pastry boxes, presumably going out to restaurants in the area.
Have I mentioned before that they made my wedding cake? Yes, they are more than just a storefront. Love them!