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Patty Daniels Interview
Pie In The Sky
When you’re in Scottsdale, Arizona and you’re looking for great pies-----you just have to visit Pie In The Sky.
Every pie is made from scratch!!
And even if you don’t get to Scottsdale, you can order one of their pies by going to their website: mypieinthesky.com.
Owner Patty Daniels talked with us about her business.
Q – Patty, why did you decide to locate your pie business in Scottsdale?
A – Well, you know, because I lived here.
Q – Previously?
A – Yes.
Q – What were you doing before you opened Pie In The Sky?
A – I was a chef and a pastry chef for 25 years, and I had a catering business here.
Q – Who is your clientele?
A – When we first started the business, we’re kind of in a little neighborhood, so it was a lot of neighbor people. Then, as the business grew, we got lots of media attention and people started coming from all parts of the city. This is a pretty big metropolitan area. Then, last year we started shipping our pies around the country. So, now we have clientele from every state in the U.S. (Laughs).
Q – Why did you get this media attention?
A – I grew up in the mid-west. There were a lot of little neighborhood bakeries. They really made great bread, rolls, all kinds of things. There’s nothing like that here. Well, there’s a little bit more now. But, you know most people go to Safeway or a grocery store to buy some baked goods there. It’s a totally different product. So, when I opened, the word kind of spread and people are really happy to eat cookies that are just made, that are just baked. It’s a really high quality product and really just well made.
Q – You make all your pies from scratch?
A – Yes.
Q – So, this is really labor intensive and you really have to love what you’re doing, don’t you?
A – I do and it’s real natural for me. I really like my work.
Q – Do you have help?
A – I do.
Q – How many employees do you have?
A – Right now, 5.
Q – How many actually help you in the pie making process?
A – 2. But, you know in the holiday season when it’s really, really busy we have a few more.
Q – Was it expensive to start this business?
A – It was. I think it was really expensive. When you walk in it’s such a tiny shop, but the rent is expensive. Equipment. Taxes. Everything. (Laughs).
Q – You laugh about it, but if it wasn’t paying off you wouldn’t be in business.
A – It takes a lot of hard work. Sometimes, myself, I’ll put in during the real busy times, a hundred hours a week. So, it’s not a 40 hour a week job or anything like that. You put in the time.
Q – So, you’re married to the business. This is your life. You don’t have time for anything else.
A – I make time for things. But, the initial start-up is a lot of work. But, I have some really good ideas for the future, things that I’d like to do.
Q – Would you like to see Pie In The Sky franchised? How much would you like to see the business grow?
A – Well, we’d like to see some growth. I’m not exactly sure if we’d really like to open multiple retail outlets. I would prefer getting into wholesale. I’d like to develop a way to market our pie dough, our pie crust to grocery stores throughout the United States. It’s really, really good dough. It would be a good dough, It would be a good way to get the word out, and maybe do more online, and shipping and corporate gifts.
Official website: www.mypieinthesky.com
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