AROUND THE PARK AGAIN by Sharon Lee Tegler
Arriving just in time to take advantage of Lisa’s Cakepops’ “Baker’s Dozen plus two free pops” anniversary special on March 13, repeat customer Jennifer Wade perused the beautiful hand-decorated pops in the display case before making her selections.
“I’ll have one Vanilla pop, one Vanilla Princess pop, two Lemons, two Chocolate Covered Vanilla,” she told owner Lisa Schneiderman.
Pausing before choosing further, she mentioned that she always comes by the shop after getting her eyebrows done next door.
Schneiderman, who personally manned the checkout counter in honor of the shop’s Second Anniversary as a storefront, explained to Wade that she based its design on that of an ice cream counter where you pick the flavors you want.
“We’re obviously featuring pops with a touch of green this weekend in honor of St. Patrick’s Day along with St. Patrick’s Day cakepop decorating kits for children,” she said. “But, we’re about to bring out our line of Easter cakepops and our Easter Pop decorating kits that encourage kids to get creative dipping and decorating their own chocolate covered eggs..”
With that, she disappeared for a second and brought out an Easter Bunny cakepop she’d just designed plus one of the Easter decorating kits. The bunnies will make their counter debut this week.
Along with them, will be Lisa Schneiderman’s ever-popular Easter chick cakepops and Easter egg pops which you can pick up from the shop or order by phone at 443-346=4011 or online at Lisa’s Cakepops – Eat Lisa’s Cakepops!
The trio of cakepop bunnies, chicks and Easter Eggs (like those below) will dress up any Easter Basket…….and are yummy to boot. In fact you might want to save some for the adults.
Families can have fun creating their own pops, however, by using one of Lisa’s Cakepops’ Easter decorating kits, thereby starting a new tradition. The kits come with six pre-formed single-dipped egg pops, a package of white chocolate to melt for dipping, and colorful sprinkles and sugars with which to decorate them.
Since becoming wholesalers in 2019, Lisa’s Cakepops finds that the Easter season is one of its busiest times. Both Lisa and her husband and business partner Glen spent part of Saturday in the kitchen finishing the final 800 of a catalog order for 12,000 Easter Pop Decorating Kits.
Lisa recounted the journey from her California kitchen to Severna Park shop owner and wholesaler. “
“A stay-at-home mom then, I spent hours in that kitchen experimenting with and perfecting my version of then-new cakeballs and cakepops,” she said.
Sharing her fanciful and delicious creations with family and friends, Lisa soon realized she could market them through a home-based business..
Shortly thereafter, Glen’s job brought the family east. She was no longer able to run her blossoming business from her kitchen and rented commercial kitchen space from Fiona’s Cakes at 836 Ritchie Highway.
By then, her products and been “discovered” and she was receiving custom cakepop orders from locals and further afield. Simultaneously, she was promoting her products by appearing at community charity events.
For a long time, she and her part-time staff of helpers were making the pops for local customers who’d order them for specific events like weddings or graduations. However, the staff suddenly found themselves getting numerous out-of-state inquiries and orders. In 2017, Lisa launched an e-commerce business through her website Lisa’s Cakepops – Eat Lisa’s Cakepops! and through Facebook at Lisa’s Cakepops | Facebook.
Local sales remained strong. So, when commercial kitchen owner Fiona D’Agostino relocated to another state, the Schneidermans took over the lease and bought all the equipment. They subsequently converted part of the kitchen to a storefront with refrigerated display cases and a counter from which to serve customers. They opened the shop on March 14, 2019 with a celebration and ribbon cutting by The Greater Severna Park & Anrold Chamber of Commerce.
In addition to e-commerce, Lisa’s Cakepops began working closely with two catalog companies, MacKenzie, Ltd. in Baltimore and Chesapeake Fine Food Group, LLC in Owings Mills.
Anniversary day remained busy. Glen Schneiderman took over the counter just as regular customer Marissa Sherman and her daughter Ella arrived to pick out their Baker’s Dozen plus two pops.
“Our family has a nut allergy and Lisa’s Cakepops doesn’t use nuts in their baking, so we’re in here often,” Marissa said,
The duo chose 15 of their favorite pops including Cookie Dough, Maple, Chocoate, Lemon and Salted Caramel and of course, green St. Patrick’s Day pops.
Recalling the first anniversary of the storefront on March 13, 2020, Lisa said the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic gave her a feeling of uncertainty. But business stabilized thanks to her loyal customers and catalog orders.
“On our second anniversary here, I’m feeling more hopeful,” she said.
