MONROE, MI — On June 3, Chow Down Detroit posted a video highlighting Icing Bakehouse in Monroe. A month later, the once-struggling bakery is drumming up steady business.
“It has picked up tremendously, especially during the week, because we were really slow during the week,” said Icing Bakehouse owner Briana Stafford. “We did okay on the weekends, but we went from doing maybe eight dozen in Monroe on the weekend, and we’re now doing, like, 30 dozen.”
According to Stafford, people still come in because of the video, sometimes across state and national lines.
“So, we had some people from California, Pittsburgh, we had people visiting from Canada, and just this weekend (people) said they’d seen the video, so they decided to take a trip,” she said.
Stafford reached out to the host of Chow Down Detroit, Seoung Lee, because she saw he was doing a series called Restaurant Rescue, where he goes to restaurants that could use help and reviews them, promoting them if he likes them.
“I was excited,” Stafford said about the video. “I was very nervous to watch it, but he gave us a really good review, and I think it reflects the product that we have here.”
She said she believes the business was struggling because of its location. It can be found at 114 West Front St., just on the edge of downtown Monroe. However, she is optimistic that the video will continue to boost the business.
“I feel like this is the recognition that I’ve really been looking for,” she said.
Since it was posted, the video has garnered about 4,300 likes and has been shared about 1,500 times. In the video, Lee tries several items, including the island hustle boba refresher and the cookie butter cinnamon roll.
“This tastes like tropical vacation in a cup,” he said of the refresher.
“I kind of need a moment right here,” he said after trying the cinnamon roll. “That is so good.”
Chow Down Detroit has 242,000 followers on Facebook.
Icing Bakehouse is open on Thursday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Friday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
— Contact reporter Connor Veenstra at CVeenstra@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Viral video brings business to struggling Monroe bakery
Reporting by Connor Veenstra, The Monroe News / The Monroe News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Connor Veenstra, The Monroe News | USA TODAY Network
