On Saturday, Dec. 29, 2018 at 6:36 p.m., Wilcox graduate Rachael Myers and her husband Kyle posted a message on the Facebook page of their bakery, Sweet Tooth Confections. Within the message, the Myers thanked their customers for their seven years of patronage and explained they would be closing.
“Every dessert or cake was always created with love and passion from us and we will miss our daily interactions with all of our devoted customers,” reads the message. “Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for helping us create such a wonderful place we called ‘home.’”
Customers were not given the chance to walk in and say goodbye, although those close to the bakery owners knew they were contemplating closing and had stopped taking orders, but the storefront at Newhall and Washington streets — a literal, hop, skip and jump outside of Santa Clara — would not be empty for long. Campbell’s Frost Cupcake Factory was scheduled to move in and open a week later.
Frost owner Andrea Buswell said when the Myers began thinking about closing their doors they reached out to her, but it wasn’t feasible for her to take over the space at that time. As months carried on, Buswell was also thinking about a change — possibly leaving the retail side of her business behind to focus on corporate catering. A longtime resident of Campbell and fixture in the community, Buswell said making the decision to move was difficult, but between the rising rents in Downtown Campbell and the direction her business was headed, it was becoming clearer to her that a shift to focus on catering may be the way to go.
“Right when I was deciding if I would go into a kitchen with somebody else or not, Rachael texted me and said, ‘We’re going to liquidate. Do you need equipment?’ … We started talking about a month ago. I came down and talked to Kyle and we started chatting. We were discussing options and they were thinking about what they wanted, but it happened in less than a month and when we finally said, ‘let’s do this,’ it was ‘let’s do it in five days.’ It was very quick.”
For Buswell, it made sense to move into the space. She had always been envious of the Sweet Tooth Confections kitchen, which is approximately four times larger than her kitchen in Campbell. The location is also closer to the freeway and close enough to Campbell that her regular customers wouldn’t feel alienated. In addition, both Frost Cupcake Factory and Sweet Tooth Confections adhere to similar baking practices.
“Similarly to Rachael and Kyle, we do everything from scratch,” said Buswell. “One of the unique things, which I learned and didn’t realize was unique at the time, is that some bakeries don’t bake from scratch. It’s a big deal and why I think the flavors are better and the quality is better when it’s baked from scratch.”
When it comes to the flavors, Frost Cupcake Factory offers at least 150 of them, and they’re changed both seasonally and daily.
“Our tagline is where flavor meets fun and if I come up with a flavor of a cupcake that’s based on something else, like the s’mores, for example, I want it to have the crunch of a graham cracker and real marshmallows,” said Buswell, who won an episode of Food Network’s Cupcake Wars in 2013. “I want it to have that full flavor and be the whole experience. I think we do a good job.”
Some of Frost’s “hottest” flavors include burnt almond, red velvet, cookie dough and “salt and sweet,” which is a salted caramel and chocolate cupcake. Additionally, flavors like funfetti, maple bacon and tiramisu are offered.
“I love what Rachael and Kyle did here,” said Buswell. “The way he built this whole place. Their hearts are here. I’ve always been envious of how cute it was and I’ve been envious of their kitchen for years … I’m proud of my business and brand and the name and I think we’ve done a good job, but I feel like I’m stepping into big shoes. They’ve done the same things and as separate as we are, we’re so similar in so many ways so I hope people are happy [with the change].”
Frost re-opened on Monday, Jan. 7 at 1305 N. Bascom Ave., Ste. I (behind Normandy House Lounge). Visit FrostCupcakeFactory.com or Facebook.com/frostcupcakefactory for more information.