Sister Pie, the beloved pie maker in Eastern Market, is on hiatus. But owner Lisa Ludwinski has a plan, taking a cue from popular Ann Arbor-based deli Zingerman’s.
On Thursday, Oct. 2, Ludwinski revealed her Sister Pie 2030 Vision on Substack. The lengthy post projects a vision of what Sister Pie could look like 18 years after Ludwinski launched it out of her parents’ home.
Ludwinski’s plan, according to the post, came together with the help of Zingerman’s and its business consultant, ZingTrain.
“We are indebted to the fine folks at Zingerman’s and ZingTrain — not only do they maintain a free library of countless resources online, their generosity has extended to one-on-one conversations and mentorship that has helped Sister Pie determine where we’re going and how to get there,” Ludwinski wrote in the Sister Pie Substack.
On Friday afternoon, Ludwinski told the Free Press she has worked with Zingerman’s in various ways for more than a decade, including a 2011 internship at the Bakehouse.
“For a very long time, I’ve been deeply inspired by the way they run their community of businesses,” Ludwinski said.
Over the years, Ludwinski said she’s connected with people at Zingerman’s who helped with questions about business challenges.
“(Zingerman’s) model for creating a vision and then a strategic plan is something that I’ve really tried to incorporate into the way that Sister Pie does business over the years,” Ludwinski told the Free Press. “Having this time that we’ve taken in the interlude allowed me to dive into it more than ever before.”
She also called Zingerman’s a true resource of information for small businesses, and that they are very transparent.
In late May, Ludwinski, who opened the pie shop in 2015 on Kercheval in Detroit’s West Village, announced a temporary closure that started June 8. In the interim, Ludwinski sold Sister Pie goods at Eastern Market on specific dates, took special orders and offered limited items with occasional openings.
“What has felt so important to me about the vision is that before the interlude, I was really struggling to see the future because I was also trying to get through each day,” Ludwinski said.
Taking the break this summer, Ludwinski said, allowed her to “step back and dream a little bit about what the ideal future could be for Sister Pie.”
Starting in October, Sister Pie goes from “interlude model to beta phase.” With this phase, Sister Pie will focus on “building each silo of the business at a time, starting with Catering and Special Events,” with a small team running production, Ludwinski wrote.
She said that with the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, expect things to be different as they will offer “a more special, curated package with pies, cookies, limited edition merch, and more.”
Long-term, she sees Sister Pie flourishing by sticking to its “core mission of uplifting and supporting our three bottom lines: people, planet, profit.”
Throughout the lengthy post, there’s insight into the bakery and cafe and its operations. Ludwinski and longtime employee Lana Williams are working on “balancing the immediate things that we’re doing to keep the bakery going and working on that plan,” according to the post, and focusing on catering and special events.
“We’ve done a lot of weddings and people place special orders for different, you know, work events, etc.,” Ludwinski said.
Ludwinski said she’s hoping to establish Sister Pie as a dependable player in the event and catering space: “The whole point of it is that we can take it step by step, which certainly isn’t easy financially; we’re trying to keep the bills paid while working on these things.”
Throughout Sister Pie’s interlude, Ludwinski said there has been much support in the city of Detroit and beyond.
“They tell us that all the time, they show it when they come to our pop-ups at Eastern Market, and they give us a lot of encouragement when they’re responding to this vision,” Ludwinski said.
In late September, Sister Pie was the only Michigan business on Eater’s “The All-time Eater 38” list of the restaurants across the country deemed “most essential and influential” over the past 20 years.
The list of 38 places celebrates Eater’s 20th anniversary and also includes fine dining restaurants, barbecue joints and pizzerias.
Ludwinski said she will continue to post updates on Instagram and Sister Pie Substack, where she also posts recipes.
Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Sister Pie owner gets an assist from Zingerman’s, looks to catering, events
Reporting by Susan Selasky, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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