Sweet Cheesecake, a brand new company brought to life by Nicki Guild and her team in Marion, was brought to Uptown. Making cheesecake was, at first, all just a literal dream in 2020, but now that three years have passed, it has finally come true.
1360 7th Ave. is where Guild first started seeing her actual aspiration come to life. Before Covid began, she was a paraeducator in a local school district. When the world was shut down because of the lockdown, she was getting some sleep and had a dream she made cheesecake. Waking up, Guild made sure to tell her husband about making cheesecake and thought to give it a try with no history of ever making one. After letting her friends and family taste test the first ever cheesecakes she made, it was an obvious success. People surrounding Guild gave her enough motivation to start selling them, and it was a hit. In May of 2020, Guild started her Facebook page. Now, a little over three years later, she has almost eight-thousand followers all around the country. Guild said, “Prices range from a slice being $8, a mini pack being $18, six inch cheesecake is $32, half cheesecake $32, a full cheesecake $55, cheesecake flight $60, half cheesecake flight is $32, and a cheesecake sandwich being $5.” Some featured flavors are: plain/fruit, turtle, oreo, brownie, frosted animal cracker, pumpkin, Captain Crunch, Fruity Pebbles, tiramisu, and hot fudge.
A lot of hard work came into making Sweet Cheesecake happen. Finding a building that matched Guild’s perfect idea was challenging. At the start, selling cheesecake out of her house wasn’t ideal since there is a rule from the state of Iowa that one can only sell so many before they have to own a storefront. She knew she wanted to rent or buy a place in her price range, and once the building on 7th Ave. became available, she bought it since it was a great fit. Before Sweet Cheesecake, the building belonged to the business Economy Auto. Moving in a small business, especially something new and unique to the community, was a great idea. Although the process of making the cheesecakes was easy, when the derecho struck Marion, it put them a few steps back with time, money, and effort. Guild said, “We are finally to the point that we can open up the front part of the store. We are still working on the back part of the building.” After it all starts to come together, Guild and her team can sell her cheesecakes. She is currently looking for new hires. Guild is looking for four to five people part-time and four to five people as full time staff, which includes high school students. She is open on Saturdays from 10-4 at this time since she is still baking out of her own house. Once the whole building is finished, she is excited to be a full time business owner.
Coming from a dream into a reality, Guild pushed through the difficult times that came along with the more fun parts too. If one really wants something to come true, all they have to do is put their mind to it. Some may say it’s a piece of cake, but for Guild, it was Sweet Cheesecake.
