Just Baked Opens in Grosse Pointe Woods

Pam Turkin will open the eighth location of her popular Livonia-headquartered cupcake specialty shop and bakery in today. Turkin began Just Baked out of her home and has expanded over time. 

She has been looking to move into the Grosse Pointe area for about a year and finally found the right location in the former Dippin Dots building at 19615 Mack Ave. nestled between and . 

Just Baked is one of .

Opening the Grosse Pointe location has been the fastest of all of Turkin's shops, she said, explaining the building needed very little attention to open. She has added cupcake wallpaper, pictures and Just Baked menus, two sinks and a shelved counter space to display each day's cupcakes available for purchase. 

She is maintaining the multi-colored spinning stools and counter space that remain from the former dippin dots. Additionally, there is a party room in the back of the store that will be used for customers who wish to host birthday parties. The Grosse Pointe location is only the second of all eight to have such space, Turkin said.

The Ann Arbor location is also equipped to handle birthday parties, during which unfrosted cupcakes are given to the party-goers along with frosting and sprinkles, she said.

Turkin and her husband Todd Turkin took possession of the building about three weeks ago. Her goal was to have the Grosse Pointe store open before the holidays, she said. Although it sounds like a whirlwind of activity, the condition of the building is really the reason she was able to open so quickly, she said.

The last bit of work was being done late Tuesday in prepartion for the grand opening today. A shelved counter was being installed that will showcase the day's cupcakes available for purchase. 

Just Baked is headquartered in Livonia, which is the location of the original store front and where all of the baking happens. Turkin said the goodies are loaded onto trucks each morning and the trucks depart the Livonia location at 7 a.m., delivering the freshly baked goods to each location. 

The store will offer anywhere from 25 to 45 of its specialty cupcakes each day, she said. The slower days, typically those at the beginning of the week, there is a lesser selection and more as the week progresses. 

In addition to specialty cupcakes, the bakery offers special order cakes, cupcake towers, cookies, brownies, cake pops, dog treats and more. All real ingredients are used, such as real butter, real sugar and so on, Turkin said.

Another feature unique to the Grosse Pointe location--at least for now--is a specially roasted french-pressed coffee Turkin is branding as Just Roasted. The locally roasted coffee will make its debut at the Grosse Pointe location, which Turkin believes will be a successful combination with the treats and possibly even the morning crowd. 

Turkin has hired about half a dozen employees to work in the Grosse Pointe location, all of whom she said are from Grosse Pointe. She is still looking to hire a few more people and is "really excited to be in Grosse Pointe."

Most of her locations, some of which are franchised, are located in the suburbs west of Detroit, she said, noting her goal to make it to the east side. She had already been traveling here frequently for weddings or other events for which she was hired and she believes it'll be a good market for her product in a retail setting, she said.

Her exact location in Grosse Pointe Woods is ideal, she said, because it's near busy restaurants that will hopefully offer diners a dessert option. She also liked the location because of its proximity to . 

Following her grand opening in Grosse Pointe, Turkin is slated to open her ninth location in West Bloomfield in the next few weeks and is hopeful to have 15 retails stores up and running by the end of the first quarter of 2012, she said. 

She is looking to expand to Downriver, Bloomfield Hills and get into downtown Detroit. 

The hours for the Grosse Pointe location will for now be 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays. The hours may change after Turkin has a feel for what Grosse Pointers are looking for and what best suits the area, she said. 

The first 150 customers to visit on Wednesday will receive a free cupcake as a celebration of the grand opening. There is a limit of one per person but Turkin is anxious to give them away and meet her neighbors and the community. 

For now, anyone wishing to contact the store is asked to call their main number at the Livonia headquarters, 734-367-0729.