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FORTY FORT — The Sweet Lush Cupcakery now has a permanent location in Luzerne County.
After becoming a staple at the farmers’ market on Wilkes-Barre’s Public Square with the “cupcake camper,” the Lackawanna County-based business decided to open a storefront in the 900 Rutter building on Rutter Avenue.
“We knew we had some following in Luzerne (County),” said Mike Sabia, who co-owns the business with his sister, Amanda Sedlak, and their mother, Angela Capo.
“We have a lot of people that travel from Luzerne to our bakery in Dunmore,” Capo added.
Sweet Lush opened in November 2012 on Chestnut Street in Dunmore, and since the opening has seen massive success, with a social media following of over 18,000 spanning the country.
In addition to the cupcake truck and new Forty Fort location, the bakery will move from its Dunmore spot to a bigger space in Scranton in the near future.
The Rutter 900 location will be a “dessert shop,” selling its famous cupcakes and Penn State Berkey Creamery ice cream. The baking will be done from the flagship store, and then shipped down to Rutter.
New vistas
What brought the Scranton-area entrepreneurs to new digs in the Wyoming Valley?
Sedlak said she and Capo came down to visit the nearby Chic Chic Marketplace on Wyoming Avenue in Forty Fort. Like their own business, the marketplace grew out of a farmers’ market operation, selling soups, salads and other locally sourced foods.
The pair then ended up at Canteen 900 for lunch — it’s also located at 900 Rutter, a renovated factory that now houses an eclectic mix of commercial and residential tenants. They started exploring the rest of the building, and Capo said they ended up talking to building owner David Koral.
Around that time, Capo said, Creative Benefits was leaving its space in the building for a bigger office in Kingston. From there, Sedlak said everything fell into place for Sweet Lush.
“We love this building,” Capo said.
Since they have been planning for the Scranton location, they had equipment and tables and chairs for the new space, and renovations took only a few weeks with help from Sedlak’s husband, Mike.
Sweet Lush plans a soft opening this week, with Valentine’s Day and Fat Tuesday specials planned for next week.