Baked Goods Are the New Yogurt in Sherman Oaks

In health conscious Sherman Oaks, a somewhat surprising trend is developing on
Ventura Boulevard – the proliferation of baked good stores.

Two years ago, the rapid expansion and popularity of frozen yogurt chain stores such as Pinkberry and Menchies resulted in a wave of new yogurt stores on Ventura Boulevard. Menchies opened two stores on Ventura Boulevard: one in Sherman Oaks at 13369 Ventura Blvd. and one in Encino at 17245 Ventura Blvd. Pinkberry opened a store at 12044 Ventura Blvd. in Studio City. And Melissa Joan Hart, former Sabrina the Teenage Witch star, opened Sweethart Sweets, a combination yogurt/candy store at 13704 Ventura Blvd in Sherman Oaks.

But now that trend has shifted to baked goods.

“Baked goods are the new yogurt,” said Cody Chiarella, an associate in the UniversalCity office of CB Richard Ellis. “A few years back everyone wanted to open a frozen yogurt storeon Ventura Boulevard. Now it’s bakeries.”
The seeming contradiction between the growth in new stores offering baked goods and the typically healthy lifestyles of the diet conscious and exercise-prone Sherman Oak residents didn’t faze Liza Clayden, executive director of the Sherman Oaks Chamber of Commerce.
“Sherman Oaks residents like being outside,” Clayden said. “They like being able to walk their dogs down the boulevard and stop and have a pastry with their coffee.”

She did note that some of the bakeries cropping up on Ventura Boulevard do offer
healthier choices like organic products or flour-less varieties of cake for vegans.
But not all of the shops do offer healthy choices. Some shops cater to those who prefer their snacks to retain the decadence for which baked goods are known.
The diet conscious reputation of Angelenos “obviously didn’t deter me,” said Clinton Stokes, who co-owns a Nothing Bundt Cake franchise with his wife, Tamika.

The Stokes have had requests for gluten-free products since they opened the bakery
located at 14622 Ventura Blvd. Suite 104 in early February hoping to capitalize on the popularity of cupcake stores, but with a higher quality twist.
In addition to the area’s penchant for health consciousness, Sherman Oaks also has
many families with three children – and children often need to bring baked goods in for school activities, he said.
Mr. Stokes, a former mortgage broker, said he joined his wife, Tamika, in her search for franchise opportunities when the mortgage business declined in the wake of the housing crisis.
Mrs. Stokes, a certified public accountant, who would stop for a red velvet cake at the chain’s Thousand Oaks store after working out at the gym, had been contemplating the idea of opening a franchise for awhile.
“We really liked the Nothing Bundt Cakes store located in Thousand Oaks,” Mr. Stokes said. “We considered other franchises – even yogurt – but we kept coming back to this.”
The Stokes are not the only ones trying to capitalize on area residents’ fondness for
baked goods. Butter Celli Bakeshop, co-founded by Sherman Oaks native Shelly Pennington and her sister-in-law Quinn Pennington, is slated to open May 10. Sweet Butter Kitchen, Cafe & Marketplace opened in November 2010. Leslie Danielan, who has run a successful catering business for 20 years and her husband, Rick Berge own Sweet Butter.

The excitement wrought by the opening of the new stores is balanced by seeing other owners with similar wares leaving the area.
Butter Celli replaces Leda’s Bake Shop, a cupcake store that closed in Oct. 2008. Swirls Desserts, another cupcake store, closed its Sherman Oaks Location at 13569 Ventura Boulevard last week.