Brandon and Brittney Dukes are excited to get started on their new business venture as the owners of The Cup Cakery.
The local bakery — best known for gourmet cupcakes and custom cakes — offers the couple the opportunity to serve their community with the same quality baked goods customers have expected for years.
The new opportunity came in an unexpected way, when their daughter got a gift certificate to The Cup Cakery for her birthday.
“When we went in, I saw the business was for sale. I got to talking to the previous owner who was telling me about it and was very encouraging,” Brittney Dukes said.
The couple had been looking for an investment after becoming debt-free a few years earlier.
“I came home and told Brandon about it,” Dukes said. “He knows I have a heart for celebrating life. I want to make it a memory and more than just a moment in time. He got to looking into it and thought it sounded doable.”
By early June, the couple started to pursue the process of ownership, checking off their to-do list along the way.
“As of July 1, it was officially ours,” Dukes said. “We have always looked for a way to serve others, and I have always liked baking. This is a way to put a positive message out there by providing people with cupcakes.”
The new owners also work in the local school system, with Brandon serving as a guidance counselor at Owensboro Middle School and Brittney serving as the media specialist at Meadow Lands Elementary School.
“We are blessed to have our cake decorator, Jackie, stay with us,” Dukes said. “We will also be looking for people to help run the store while we aren’t here.”
Customers can expect the same recipes and the same sweet treats, according to Dukes, who has enjoyed learning to make gourmet cupcakes.
“Before now, I played with the idea of gourmet while baking at home,” she said. “I made my son’s Minecraft birthday cake this year. It was more small-scale, for our family.”
As she begins to decorate custom cakes for their customers, Dukes said it is an honor to be a part of others’ special events, even if in a small way.
“I had a lady whose daughter was getting engaged (recently) come in to order. You don’t get to be there with them, but through them,” Dukes said.
As far as business, the new owners describe it as pretty steady, something for which they are thankful.
“ We are excited about serving the Owensboro community. To me that’s why we are in it — to serve and celebrate life with people,” Dukes said.
The Dukes children — Bronson, 8, and Bristol, 7 — do not fully grasp that their parents own a bakery but they do enjoy going into the store to assist with taste testing.
“We worked hard to get to this point. This is something we could pass on to them one day and carry on that legacy,” Dukes said.
As they begin their journey with the new ownership, the family operates under four basic principles they believe will guide them along the way.
“Our goal is to have fun, honor God, be intentional, and make others smile,” Dukes said. “This is what we want to live our day in and day out.”
The Cup Cakery is located at 231 Williamsburg Square. Their hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, and closed Sunday.
