September will mark 10 years since Good Cakes and Bakes opened on Detroit’s Avenue of Fashion. But on Thursday, the business is celebrating the opening of its second location in downtown Detroit.
Owner and spouses April and Michelle Anderson were joined by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, City Council members Mary Waters and Fred Durhal III, and other supporters to unveil the new spot. It’s located at 22 W. Columbia St. across from Comerica Park in the Ilitch-owned Olympia Development’s District Detroit.
“During the whole District Detroit debate, we heard from [the] community who said they wanted to see minorities right down here in Midtown, close to downtown Detroit. They wanted to see more [women-owned] businesses,” Durhal said at the opening. “And so today is a great day for a couple of reasons… It is showing what we are trying to do here in the city of Detroit — make it inclusive for everyone.”
The Andersons say the new location will have many (but not all) of the classics from the Livernois Avenue bakery, plus some new breakfast sandwiches and ice cream flavors.
The original location has become a staple on the historic Avenue of Fashion where the majority of businesses are Black-owned.
Good Cakes and Bakes is immensely popular in Detroit with their products sold in stores like Seasons Market and Avalon International Breads’ Canfield Street location, but it’s also nationally renowned. Not only were they a 2023 James Beard Award semifinalist for “Outstanding Bakery,” but former president Bill Clinton is also a fan. They even catered cake jars for Beyoncé’s Wednesday night concert at Ford Field.
“Hopefully she enjoyed them and we’ll be hearing a word or two back from her,” Michelle Anderson says laughing, hoping to get future business from Queen Bey.
The name “Good Cakes and Bakes” is no lie. Their decadent gooey butter cake, cookies, and cake jars are seriously addicting. We give them extra props for their vegan cupcakes, too.
“That idea came from the community,” Anderson says about the vegan treats. “April isn’t vegan, but we had a customer come in and request we make something vegan for their son who had an allergy. We asked for feedback and they said it wasn’t right, so she changed the recipe until it was. That’s how we keep going by listening to the community and what their needs are. The support from the community as we grow has been wonderful.”
She gets a bit misty-eyed when she tells us about customers who have stuck with them for the past decade.
“The other day we had a guy who came and said ‘I’ve been eating your stuff since I was nine,’ and now he’s a high school senior,” she says. “How cool is that?”
Anderson tells us the new shop will likely be open daily from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. with extended hours during sports games, though they’re still working out the details.
She wants to let other local businesses know that this type of success is possible for them, too.
“It’s all possible, you just have to take advantage of what’s out there,” she says. “We have things like the Build Institute that will help you make a business plan which is so valuable in helping you develop your business. All the support we have in this city for small businesses, I think is very unique to Detroit.”
We’re happy to see a Black-owned, woman-owned, LGBTQ-owned local business getting its flowers (and hopefully lots of business) in Detroit’s increasingly gentrified downtown.
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