Erin Allen, of Russelville, and Jana Sublett, of Bowling Green, sample free cupcakes at the grand opening of Gigi's Cupcakes on Campbell Lane in Bowling Green Monday, Feb. 1, 2010.
Kathy Saunders worked at a steady pace as she ladled vanilla cupcake batter into paper baking cups.
Saunders, manager of Gigi’s Cupcakes, kept calm on Sunday in the face of the grand opening of the store the next day.
“Today we’ve been warming up the ovens and baking a few test batches,” she said on Sunday.
Gigi’s Cupcakes, 760 Campbell Lane in Buckhead Square, is a franchise business based out of Nashville that already has 11 locations around the South, Saunders said.
“They’re really selective about where they put stores,” she said. “They don’t want one store to be so close that it competes with another.”
Saunders, who lives in Tennessee, said she had always thought Bowling Green would be an ideal town for a Gigi’s Cupcakes store.
“Bowling Green is really supportive of independent businesses,” she said. “It’s a small town with a healthy business community.”
Randall Butler, franchise operations director for Gigi’s Cupcakes, agreed that Bowling Green is a good location for the cupcake shop.
“It’s a combination of the proximity to a college campus and the mixed demographics that makes us want to be in a place like this,” Butler said.
Saunders said Gigi’s Cupcakes sells large-sized cupcakes with flavors such as Cookies n’ Cream and Pumpkin Cream, all for $3. They also sell coffee, soft drinks and milk for $1.50.
The shop will have a discount special for the month of February that will give Facebook fans of Gigi’s Cupcakes the chance to receive a free cupcake for every three cupcakes they purchase at full price, she said.
The winter weather that hit Bowling Green last weekend didn’t affect the grand opening at 9:45 a.m. yesterday, Saunders said.
“There’s been a steady stream of people coming in ever since we opened,” she said. “We haven’t had a slow spot yet.”
Brittney Grant, a junior from Blairsville, Ga., and Danielle Fleming, a junior from Fridley, Minn., were among the first customers at Gigi’s for the grand opening.
“I found out about the opening through friends who got a job here,” Grant said, as she glanced at a sheet that listed the types of cupcakes. “I’ve never had these cupcakes before, and I’m excited about the Midnight Magic Chocolate Chip flavor.”
Saunders said that most of their customers the first day were Western students who had passed the new store when driving through Bowling Green.
“We’re very close to campus, so it’s one of those things where they can stop by in between classes and pick up a cupcake while out,” she said. “After all, I don’t know many people in the world who would turn down a cupcake when they’re stressed out.”
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