Shortly after 8 a.m. Tuesday, a man wearing a yellow neon-colored vest and a Polar Park hard hat walked into Creative Cakes Cafe on on Harding Street in the Worcester Public Market.
“Happy first day!” he said.
Minutes later a small business owner walked in to purchase a coffee. A nearby resident then stopped in to check out the new space and tried an iced coffee.
When Colleen Nadeau and her husband Dan decided to reinvest in their brand Creative Cakes, this is what they envisioned - a spot overflowing with foot traffic even amid a pandemic.
“People are walking in,” co-owner Colleen said. “This is exciting.”
The couple opened Creative Cakes as vendors in the Worcester Public Market in March. Their booth was located three aisles in from the Harding Street entrance. It offered cupcakes, cake pops and other sweet treats. It wasn’t located near the food court, though.
The coronavirus pandemic eliminated much of the foot traffic within the market and Creative Cakes saw interest in their space decline.
“Before the pandemic, you had a lot of wandering and a lot of socializing. Then it turned into get-in and get-out,” Colleen said. “We were a product that people would have to discover along the way. People weren’t even making it to us. For us, as a small family business, we either jumped all in or our future was uncertain.”
Doubling down came in the form of an open space previously occupied by Legacy Deli and Bagel. According to Executive Director of the Worcester Public Market Dominic Mercurio, the space opened after Legacy opted to focus on other locations.
Creative Cakes transformed into Creative Cakes Cafe featuring seating at tables and at a bar to go with coffee, breakfast sandwiches, flatbread pizzas and tot bowls.
Creative Cakes Cafe opened in an expanded space in the Worcester Public Market on Tuesday. It will offer coffee, lunch and dinner at the cafe on Harding Street.
The cafe debuted on Tuesday.
“It was a terrible time to do this [in the middle of a pandemic],” Colleen said. “But on the other hand, it was an opportunity that if we didn’t do now, we wouldn’t have again most likely.”
Creative Cakes opened in the public market in March - three weeks before it shutting down because of COVID.
Colleen and Dan each left careers in the dental field to pursue the opportunity with the public market. Colleen left her job more than three years ago. For Dan, April marked one year since he left his job.
The pandemic hasn’t altered their plans. Moving into a new space within the public market offered another milestone in their lives.
“We were down but we were willing to bet on the future. We thought what was the worst-case scenario? It doesn’t work,” Colleen said. “We’re not going to give up without a fight.”
When Creative Cakes opened in March, sweet treats filled the Canal District. From the Queen’s Cups to Table Talk Pies, even within the Worcester Public Market, Jennifer Lee’s Bakery also offered cupcakes.
The expansion into a cafe provides the public market with its only coffee shop and pizza joint.
Creative Cakes Cafe opened in an expanded space in the Worcester Public Market on Tuesday. It will offer coffee, lunch and dinner at the cafe on Harding Street.
“We always saw the potential in this place,” Dan said. “And we still do. We think it’s going to be huge. We think it’s going to be an awesome place.”
Creative Cakes Cafe will operate Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Wednesday through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Having a separate entrance allows the cafe to capitalize on breakfast and morning coffee seekers as the public market doesn’t open until 11 a.m.
The breakfast menu includes egg sandwiches and bagels. Starting around 11 a.m., patrons can try a new lunch and dinner menu that includes flatbreads, tot bowls, homemade chili and “Texas caviar” that includes beans, black-eyed peas, cilantro and more.
“We’re food people,” Dan said. “It’s not a far stretch for us. I think it’s more getting stuff I know other people will like so it’s not just so curtailed to my own taste.”
Colleen Nadeau in Creative Cakes Cafe in the Worcester Public Market. The expanded cafe will offer coffee, lunch and dinner on Harding Street.
The decor within the space infuses the tastes of Colleen and Dan. Painted black steel barrels act as stands for large butcher block tabletops. The pink Creative Cakes Cafe popped against the black. The same countertops run along the bar seating.
Antique coffee tins bookend a sign that reads “Work Hard and Be Nice to People”. Colleen jokes that the saying is a boiled-down version of the employee handbook.
Creative Cakes Cafe has hired three people outside the Nadeau immediate family.
“It’s really exciting to bring in staff,” Colleen said. “It’s really cool to be able to offer jobs to people whose hours had been cut at their other positions.”
Creative Cakes Cafe opened in an expanded space in the Worcester Public Market on Tuesday. It will offer coffee, lunch and dinner at the cafe on Harding Street.
Colleen and Dan entered the new space on Nov. 1. A month later, it transformed into a cafe.
Monday night, they spent about 12 hours placing the final touches on a month’s worth of work.
“We are resourceful and creative,” Colleen said. “That we’re willing to search out the positives in a really negative time.”
Dan finished the thought, “And we’re committed. Committed to the idea of making it work and succeeding.”
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