Today we’d like to introduce you to Shane Quillin.
Hi Shane, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Sugar Shane’s launched March 1st, 2020 (11 days prior to the pandemic starting) out of my West Midtown home. The goal was to utilize colleagues and my previous clients to start a Dessert Catering Company. However, the pandemic turned my catering dreams upside down and it forced me to pivot to an e-commerce cookie company. While I was employed full time at Amazon as a Sr. Program Manager, I spent most of my free time working on my craft. In the summer of 2020, I began selling online. I shipped nationwide, had weekly Saturday pickups at my home, and did deliveries across Atlanta on the weekends. The company grew too large for my home kitchen, and I ended up taking over a lease in Midtown in October 2020. I have since had 2 interns (first 2 employees), left corporate America (July 2021), opened a 2nd location (July 2022) and currently have a staff of 22 amazing Bakers & Managers.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The road to get to where I got today has been anything but smooth. However, every hiccup has been a blessing and/or a valuable learning experience. The first time I launched my website, and I had a “cookie drop”, 3 people bought cookies. I had to lie and claim we sold out within 5 minutes. I “faked sellouts” for the next several weeks to increase the hype, and it worked. The early lack of success forced me to improve my product, photography, and social media presence. The next hiccup came during my first month operating in the midtown location (nicknamed “The Lab”). A gassy odor had affected the taste/smell of cookies produced for the Halloween rush. I had to shut down the kitchen for multiple days and dispose of all of our cookies. I worked 100+ hours every week from April 2020 until recently. This eliminated most of my social life/travel (favorite thing to do). However, the lack of time has forced me into a rigorous but successful lifestyle which includes waking up daily by 4 am. The most recent major bump in the road happened when opening our new store. We have an entire Tik Tok on all the obstacles including issues with plumbing, internet, and HVAC. The delay allowed us to focus on growing our Midtown location, which is our best-performing store.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Sugar Shane’s is a gourmet cookie company in Atlanta, GA (locations in Midtown & Sandy Springs). We won dessert wars in 2021 (regional dessert competition) and pride ourselves on A+ customer service and products. Our menu changes daily by introducing over 100+ new flavors a year. We keep our five best sellers on the menu but rotate flavors based on season, customer recommendations, events, and our own desires. We hold a 4.9+ rating on Uber eats, Google, and Yelp and we pride ourselves on delivering a world-class product no matter if we are shipping cookies across the countryvor fresh out of the oven in-store. Everyone deserves a gourmet cookie, and we would love for you to try us.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My favorite childhood memory was traveling to Chicago with my grandparents. It made me love the city of Chicago including the food, skyline, and sports teams (my grandparents were from the south side and would take me and siblings to the Whitesox games). Additionally, the trips helped create a love to travel which I did a little as a kid but frequently through my 20s (I have been to 19 countries).
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sugarshanes.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sugar_shanes/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/sugarshanesatl/
- Twitter: @sugar_shanes
- Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/sugar-shanes-atlanta
