Business & Tech
A Strong Family Team Lies at the Heart of Sweet Memories
Successful local eatery began with cake and a desire to focus on the kids.
“I've been going to Sweet Memories with my mom for years. Everything on the menu is delicious and it's so cute and girly.’’ -- Grace.
“Yummy treats! I've been there for Sunday brunch several times, but my favorite thing to do is just go get dessert to go. Their desserts are amazing and very inexpensive.” -- Betsy.
“The service is great, the people friendly, and the food is the best. It's always hard to walk away from the yummy desserts, so don’t be surprised if you don’t!” -- Nagrom.
These are some of the numerous unsolicited on-line reviews of , now in its 16th year at 180 Main Street in Emmaus.
Mark and Jamie Smith and their three children, Brandon 29, Heather, 26, and Allyssa, 23, have worked as a team to make Sweet Memories so sweet. The family makes up the restaurant’s only employees.
The whole thing started with the kids.
“When my son was two, I started to decorate cakes because I wanted to be home for him,” Jamie said. “I have a strong art background, so it wasn‘t that big of a leap.
“Then I started working in other people's places doing cakes. I could take a sheet cake and do freehand drawings on it.”
As soon as the kids got old enough, the Smiths started a search for a place to run the cake business.
The Smiths went from Breinigsville to Mertztown, down into Coopersburg looking for a retail store.
“I knew when I saw it, I would know,” she said. “Definitely the fact that the Emmaus building had a full-size parking lot was helpful.’’
And that’s how they found the circa 1871 Victorian building that houses Sweet Memories restaurant, bakery and gift shop.
The proximity to their home, a farm house in Lower Macungie that is seven minutes away by car, has made life easier for them.
“We haven’t had one hiccup here in Emmaus,” she said. “But I can only do so many orders….We never saw any recession. Sales topped every past year.”
The planning expertise comes from Mark, her husband, who managed a Yocco’s hot dog store when he was starting out.
“He was one of the youngest managers that they had at the Yocco's on Hamilton Street, in Allentown, one of their busiest stores,“ she said.
Looking back, even Jamie seems surprised by the growth of Sweet Memories -- the restaurant and the gift shop.
“It’s kinda funny how it rolled around,” she said. “I was doing the bakery business and the customers wanted something to eat, so we gave it to them. And we got busier.
“Everything is made every single day right here on the premises.’’
The restaurant is still relatively small, holding 40 people and reservations are often needed. It serves lunch Tuesday through Saturday, brunch on Sunday and dinners on Friday and Sunday.
Jamie said she has no plans for an expansion because she’s afraid of losing touch with the products.
“People that come in here have either been coming in forever or they’re thrilled to death to find us,’’ Jamie said.
Those new to Sweet Memories might ask what the family’s favorite sweets are. So she disclosed them:
Husband Mark: Vanilla cake with chocolate butter cream.
Son Brandon: Applesauce cake.
Daughter Heather: Peanut butter crumb or cookie dough.
Daughter Allyssa: “Depends on her mood,” Jamie said.
Jaime: “I’m covered in it all day, so I seldom eat any of it,” Jamie said.