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By Jennifer Farnsworth
It was love at first bite for Nothing Bundt Cake franchise owners Matt and Melissa Gleason.
“My husband’s family lives in Baton Rouge, La., and they all raved about the Nothing Bundt Cakes there,” said Melissa Gleason. “His mom sent us a white chocolate raspberry cake and that was all it took. The cake was amazing.”
She said it was after trying the mini-cakes a few years back that she started thinking of how she could bring it into the area.
The first one was in Albany in 2017. The two opened a second location of their bakery business in March in the Clifton Park Center Mall.
She said the franchise does demographic studies and helps select the locations.
“In Albany, we renovated an existing space and in Clifton Park we moved into a brand new space. We looked into opening one because there were none in New York … We are aiming for Saratoga next,” said Gleason.
Gleason said they worked with a franchise approved architect to give the bakeries the same look and feel, with the layout in each bakery being very similar. The locations also have consistent cake size options and flavors.
“We have cute retail samples and cake displays. We carry four sizes of cake, our smaller bundtinis, which come by the dozen, our individual bundtlets, and our eight- and 10-inch cakes,” she said.
“All of our cakes are frosted with our signature cream cheese frosting. We have 10 flavors of cake, including a gluten-free option and a rotating seasonal flavor that we bake every day. We own our bakeries individually, but we bake the same recipes as every other location right down to the brand name of ingredients. A cake in California will taste exactly the same as a cake in New York.”
The most popular flavors, Gleason said, are chocolate chip and white chocolate raspberry.
They make cakes for any size event including fundraisers, weddings, showers and birthdays.
Gleason has a background in IT, but after being a stay-at-home mom for 11 years, she knew she didn’t want to go back to a traditional desk job. She felt the bakery opportunity was a perfect fit.
“The franchise concept is great because you are trained on every aspect of baking and running the bakery and they provide ongoing support,” said Gleason.
When they first started in Albany, she said, the business didn’t have brand recognition so they worked to build the brand between marketing and events. They currently have over 20 employees in each bakery who help to bring the cakes to food-and-wine events, craft fairs and farmers markets.
“It is so fun to see someone try our cake for the first time and be amazed. Our cake brings joy to people and it makes me love what I do,” said Gleason.
Founded in 1997 in Las Vegas, NV. Bundt Cakes has nearly 300 franchise locations in the U.S. and Canada. The other New York locations are Utica and Poughkeepsie.
The Clifton Park Nothing Bundt Cakes store is located at 309 Clifton Park Center Road, in Store 9. Hours are Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. They are closed on Sunday.
A full menu is online at nothingbundtcakes.com/bakery/ny/clifton-park.