After 57 years of offering cake decorating classes and selling gingerbread houses, edible toppers and baking supplies, Cake Art in San Rafael is closing its doors.
Kathy Collins and her business partner Maria Smithey announced this week that the downtown business at 1512 Fifth Ave. has decided to close after struggling during the coronavirus crisis.
The store will be open through Thursday with limited hours, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and closed Sunday through Tuesday. It will open again from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday.
“I’m sad, completely devastated by this loss,” Collins said. “We would love to see Cake Art continue in some form, but at this point, we are liquidating everything.”
Smithey said before the pandemic she was thinking about retiring, but the crisis put that decision on the fast track.
“With the pandemic, it really limits what we are able to do. We can’t do any classes, no parties,” Smithey said. “I decided it was a good time to retire.”
Cake Art opened in Corte Madera in 1963. It was sold to Elaine Foster in 1990, and the store was moved to its existing address in 1994.
Collins, who is a physical therapist, said she took a cake decorating class with Foster in the late ’90s.
“My father was a baker so I always wanted to do it,” she said. “I came in and started taking classes and fell in love with the craft.”
Foster decided to sell in 1999. That’s when Collins and two business partners came together to become the new owners. Foster continued on teaching classes.
Like Collins, Smithey took classes before buying into the shop. Smithey, who worked in health care for 17 years and as a kindergarten teacher for 10, said baking had always been a passion of hers. She became a partner in 2011 when two others sold their shares.
Over the years, classes were offered for everyone from beginners to experts. Participants enrolled in lessons on decorating cookies, chocolate, candy and gingerbread houses during the holidays.
Smithey said upwards of 65% of the store’s revenue came from the holiday season. They would sell about 1,000 gingerbread houses each year.
There was also a summer camp for kids.
“It was fun to see the kids grow up. Some would come back every year,” Smithey said. “We’re sad to see it go.”
Stacy Leopold, a San Rafael resident, said her two daughters, who are now young adults, were among that group.
“They learned how to make cakes, candy, gingerbread houses,” she said. “It was great family fun, bringing the family together. This is like an end of an era. We’re all going to miss it.”
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