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    Cheesecake Girl Lands Spot at Budd Dairy & Storefront in Dublin

    Soon there will be not one, not two, but three locations where fans can get their fill of The Cheesecake Girl.

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    One year after Owner Samantha Strange opened The Cheesecake Girl’s first brick-and-mortar at Hilliard’s Center Street Market, the bakery will join Budd Dairy Food Hall in Italian Village.

    The Cheesecake Girl will occupy Budd Dairy’s Hatch space, an incubation kitchen that will welcome new tenants on a rotating basis. The bakery will be the first vendor in the space and set up shop for three months when the long-awaited project opens on April 6.

    The dessert maker will offer a smaller, albeit just as tasty selection, compared to its Center Street location.

    “We’re planning to have slices, mini cheesecakes, trifle jars and cookie sandwiches,” Strange says.

    The Cheesecake Girl will build consistency across its menus so customers don’t have to worry about missing a favorite flavor because it’s only at a certain location.

    Strange says she’s a long-time fan and follower of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, and when Budd Dairy was announced, she jumped at the opportunity to apply to be a vendor. Plans with Center Street had not yet been finalized and the bakery was looking for any opportunity to put down some roots.

    At the time, Buddy Dairy didn’t say yes, but they didn’t say no, either. While the concept wasn’t looking to devote a space to desserts full-time, CMR was interested in working with The Cheesecake Girl in its Hatch space.

    With a location in Hilliard and another coming soon in Dublin, Strange is excited to reach a new set of customers in Italian Village – and potentially gauge interest for that area in the future.

    “We’re very humbled to be given the opportunity,” Strange says.

    Not long after their Budd Dairy debut, The Cheesecake Girl will open its first standalone location in Dublin at 4345 W. Dublin-Granville Rd. later this spring.

    The expansion to Dublin really came out of necessity. With 200 square feet of space at Center Street, “We don’t have enough room to store product,” Strange says, especially one that has to stay refrigerated. Not only were they running out of room, but selling out, signaling even more demand for their desserts.

    If she wanted to grow The Cheesecake Girl, Strange knew she had to find a bigger kitchen. After looking at options ranging from just commercial kitchen space to other properties, Strange ran across the space in Dublin and that was it for her.

    With 2,500 square feet, most of the space will be dedicated to a large production kitchen.

    There will be a small area for customers to walk-in and purchase treats, and there’s one unique feature Strange is particularly excited about. The Cheesecake Girl will have a walk-up order window on the side of its building.

    Planning during the pandemic, it was a COVID-friendly option to serve customers. But Strange sees another benefit. As a dog owner, she’s often found herself wishing she could pop into a coffee shop or the like while walking her dog. The walk-up window offers a pup-friendly option to grab coffee and desserts to-go.

    Inside will be another area designed to better serve customers. The Dublin location will feature a private tasting room for brides and catering orders.

    The Dublin shop will have a wider selection of treats, similar to Center Street. Strange says customers will also find a few specials at each location.

    Initially opening right as the pandemic was beginning, Strange wouldn’t have thought a year later she’d be expanding her business with a pop-up opportunity and another brick-and-mortar.

    “The community showed up,” she says.

    The business found itself succeeding not just because of customer support, but its ability to adjust.

    “As we all learned more about COVID, I think we were able to pivot with the community,” Strange says.

    The Cheesecake Girl started offering third-party delivery and different options and treats to keep customers safely coming back – coming back so often that the business found itself with no other way to grow than opening another location.

    While things certainly have not gone as expected (in a good way), Strange is humbled and excited to keep the community fed with cheesecake.

    For more information, visit thecheesecakegirl.com.

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    Susan Post
    Susan Post
    Susan is the editor of The Metropreneur and associate editor of Columbus Underground, and also covers small business and entrepreneurial news and the food scene in Central Ohio.Susan holds a degree in Communication with a minor in Professional Writing from The Ohio State University. She sits on the board of the Central Ohio Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and loves coffee, whiskey, cooking and spending time with friends and family.
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