Galaxy Cupcakes | Georgetown

Galaxy Cupcakes | Georgetown

By Andrea Leptinsky Friday, 11 June 2010

GEORGETOWN — With staple treats such as Orbit, Sputnik and Galactic, it is no wonder the owners of Galaxy Cupcakes Bakery and Coffeehouse in Georgetown—Cherie Gilbert and Cheryl Wilhite—are making 1,000 of the sweet treats during busy weekends.

“[The businesses is] growing dramatically,” Wilhite said. “But it’s allowing us to catch up to where we need to be.”

The company first opened in 2008 by a solo effort from Gilbert. In winter 2009 Wilhite came on board, and the bakery relocated from its building on Park Lane—off Williams Drive—to its current storefront on the Square in downtown Georgetown. Watching a startup business try to grow in an off-the-beaten path location was difficult, Gilbert said.

“The foot traffic was very minimal over there,” Gilbert said. “The store wasn’t doing well at all at that location.”

Despite relocation efforts, Galaxy Cupcakes did not see a spike in business until it was featured on TV—twice.

Cable channel TLC featured the bakery in its “Best Food Ever” series as part of the “Bodacious Bakeries” episode in early May. Just a few days earlier, catching wind of the bakery’s upcoming appearance on TLC, Austin news station KEYE-TV traveled to Georgetown to highlight Gilbert and Wilhite’s sweet treat endeavor. Since then, business has been booming.

“Business has more than doubled,” Gilbert said. “It’s been nice. It’s been at a steady pace, but it hasn’t been unmanageable. It’s to where customers are lining up at the door.”

Some of Galaxy’s featured flavors include the lemon-flavored Satellite cupcake, snickerdoodle-inspired Nova, and the peanut butter cup–flavored Mercury. Some flavors are specialty flavors however; the bakery offers six flavors available daily. Cupcakes range in price from $1 to $1.25 for mini cupcakes and $2.50 to $2.75 for regular-size cupcakes.

One effort, Gilbert said, the bakery is trying to push through is the thought that it only sells cupcakes, something that is far from the truth. Galaxy sells gelato—one of the few places in Georgetown where it is sold—which is brought in from Gelato’s Italian Ice Cream and Café in Round Rock. In the morning, cinnamon rolls and chocolate-stuffed croissants fill the bakery cases from 7 to 10 a.m. before the cupcakes make their entry.

Galaxy’s owners said their cupcakes—all developed from Gilbert’s homemade recipes—bring in customers from across Central Texas, sometimes spending more in gas than they plan to in cupcakes.

“They have been coming in from all the place just to get cupcakes,” Wilhite said. “They’ve come from Wichita Falls, Seguin, Killeen, Temple. ...One couple came from Seguin and they were just going to get two cupcakes. I’m thinking, ‘What do you mean, you drove two hours just to get two cupcakes?’ They ended up buying six.”

“One cupcake will make these people happy,” Gilbert said. “It’s a treat and it’s fun. It’s just a little something to get you happy.”