Photo courtesy of Sugardaddy's Sumptuous Sweeties
Brownie Points
New Sugardaddy’s owner powers through adversity
From mint-filled brownies to melt-in-your-mouth chocolate truffles, owning a bakery can be a treat.
However, as Lisa Anglim has found out, ownership is not always cause for celebration.
Anglim bought Sugardaddy’s Sumptuous Sweeties in 2013 after Tom Finney and Mark Ballard, co-founders of the couture brownie and sweets company, retired. Although Anglim’s business is now thriving, with numerous recent features in national media, the road there has been rocky.
After working in retail merchandizing for more than 20 years, Anglim started looking for an entrepreneurial venture to allow her to stay close to home with her new daughter. When she saw Sugardaddy’s was for sale in 2013, she knew instantly it was what she had been looking for. The company, founded in 2005, quickly achieved enormous popularity, becoming a big hit in the gift world and even winning an episode of Food Network’s Throwdown with Bobby Flay in 2007.
But Anglim never expected the first months of ownership to be plagued with so many setbacks.
“Once we found the opportunity, we dove in, but in the first year, we were hit with several different obstacles,” Anglim says.
Within the first six months of owning her first-ever business, there was a trademark infringement lawsuit, the loss of a retail location during a lease negotiation, a totaled delivery van, a break-in and the loss of another retail location to a fire.
“The hardest challenge was just staying calm through the first six months,” Anglim says. “Not panicking, not giving up, not walking away from it, because we’re really pleased with where we sit today, but a year ago, I was probably ready to throw in the towel.”
Photo courtesy of Sugardaddy's Sumptuous Sweeties
Brownie Points
Anglim attributes her success to the support she received from the community. From the fellow downtown Columbus business owners, to the women of the National Association of Women Business Owners, to her ever-supportive husband, Dan, Anglim says she wouldn’t have made it without everyone’s help.
Despite all of the challenges she has faced, Anglim reflects positively on her experiences.
“Quite frankly, some of it may have been a blessing in disguise,” she says.
Though Sugardaddy’s has lost two of its original three retail locations, the changes have allowed Anglim to focus on growth in other key areas such as business partnership, online sales and corporate gifting.
Approaching its 10-year anniversary in August, Sugardaddy’s is thriving with rebuilt presence, from a newly-launched website to new partnerships Downtown at Whit’s Frozen Custard and J. Gumbo’s and at Easton at Celebrate Local.
“Columbus is important to us. We want to stay in Columbus, so we want to be part of the city and participate in as many things as we can,” Anglim says.
Morgan Schunn is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
A Quick Glance at the Sugardaddy’s Menu
-American Beauty Brunette: double chocolate peanut butter brownie with toasted chopped peanuts
-Campfire Blonde: double-layer graham cracker brownies with chunks of chocolate, and hand-torched marshmallow and milk chocolate in the middle
-Dark Berry Brunette: double chocolate brownie with triple raspberry puree
-Drunken Chunky Blonde: bourbon-essence blondie with chocolate chunks and pecans
-Fiery Brunette: chocolate brownie with chipotle and cinnamon
-Tahiti Blonde: blondie with toasted coconut, cashews, white and dark chocolate, and pineapple
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