Princess Cake

Ariane Zenker is owner of The Cake Shop (11 rue Thiers – 38000 Grenoble). James Dalrymple talks to her about how she came to set up her own business in Grenoble, her background, and her love of English and American-style cakes.

When and where did you get the inspiration for The Cake Shop and The Cake Agency?

Born in France to an English mother and a French father, married to an Israeli-American, I’ve always lived in a melting pot environment. After business studies at ESCP (Paris Graduate School of Management), I embraced the advertising world, working with international clients (such as Mars, P&G) at Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi. However, my passion has always been baking, which I experienced from early childhood, starting with my English grandmother. So after 13 years in advertising, when I was ready to start a project of my own, it was clear that it should be around baking.

How did The Cake Agency begin?

The Cake Agency was born in 2006 in Paris on the idea of bringing together my experience in advertising and passion for baking, mainly via image cakes with edible pictures that expressed the message of an event. The Cake becomes a medium of communication, a means to express a message in an original and delicious way. The cake is therefore decorated with an edible picture which can be a photo, a logo, an invitation, an ad, a child’s drawing…

The target is twofold: corporate and private. We provide cakes for new campaigns, corporate anniversaries, new contracts, seminars, but also birthdays, Mother’s/Father’s Day, housewarmings, weddings and wedding anniversaries. The idea was to benefit from my network in the communication field to boost the launch and generate my first clients.

However, due to family reasons, in the summer 2006 (a few months after the launch) I moved to Grenoble. After the birth of my fourth child, I first started my new business from home, as a market test and also a motivation test – how would I like starting my own business in cakes?!

How did you test the market?

In Grenoble, I started selling creative cakes via the internet, using a network developed when I arrived. It showed potential and there was an immediate reaction among corporate and private clients, as well as a lot of interest from journalists, which enabled me to get good coverage of the business. This was a springboard to get orders from clients such as BD, Saatchi & Saatchi, Area, among others, as well as many private clients for all kinds of events (birthdays, Mother’s/Father’s Day, weddings etc …)

There are links between corporate and private clients as many of them have been exposed to my cakes in a professional context and have then ordered them personally. The concept naturally drives word of mouth, which is a fantastic communication tool for the business.

After two years in Grenoble, in the summer 2008, I decided to further develop my concept beyond personalised cakes. I wanted to give a full blast to my project via a shop in which I would sell all the kinds of Anglo-Saxon baking I adore (scones, cheesecakes, cupcakes & cookies, bagels) as well as a great range of fabulous cake decorating accessories I had discovered in my training in the US and UK. This is how the idea of The Cake Shop was born. The Cake Shop name was chosen over The Cake Agency for its simplicity and relevance. The Cake Agency remains as a ‘brand’ more suited to the advertising cakes.

Where did you acquire your skill for making cakes?

Training was and is still the key to ‘professionalizing my vocation’, learn new techniques and know about the latest accessories: I underwent training in the US, the UK, Israel, and France for the pure baking side.
This ‘globetrotter’ training has enabled me to develop my cake decorating skills, know about the market internationally and its incredible equipment (mostly from the US and UK). Even more so, it has enabled me to mature my concept, meet and share experiences with others, learn from them and create a network within a universe that was new to me. I now have valuable contacts in the US, Israel, England and Holland that I can exchange with, an international cake decorating network!

The training and observation of the cake decoration market has also made me aware products and accessories of which France was completely deprived. Something had to be done about it!!!

Your products are inspired by American and English-style cakes, very different to classic French baking style. How have the French reacted to The Cake Shop?

My positioning is deliberately Anglo-Saxon in the store’s style, in its decoration and obviously in the cake and products on offer. This is my ‘edge’ and savoir faire. So far the reaction in Grenoble has been extremely positive, many people even coming into the store just to thank me for bringing such an atmosphere and products to their reach. There is also a lot of curiosity, people asking questions about the products. The fact of being a mix of patisserie, snack/lunch place, épicerie, and cake accessory/gift store brings at the same time confusion and interest.

So far, I have noticed that many people living in Grenoble have spent some time in the UK or the US. Many of them are fond of bagels (and regularly come back to us for them), the same for the scones, cheesecakes and cupcakes. I can also see the influence of American TV series with the cupcakes: our young clients seem to devour them with their the eyes before buying and eating them. For the accessories, many clients even express their gratitude in being able to find all these products in the same place. Before they used to struggle through the internet with high shipping fees. Globally, the French have been very positive and enthusiastic!

Why did you decide to leave Paris and the advertising world?

After 13 years in agencies working on fantastic brands and products, in 2005, I felt it was time to move on if I did not want to spend all my career in advertising. When the question of ‘what’s next?’ came up, the decision was made very easily, almost obviously. This is when the idea of The Cake Agency was born.

Why did you come to Grenoble?

In the summer 2005, just when I had left Saatchi & Saatchi to start The Cake Agency, my husband was offered a great position in BD Grenoble. It was a tough decision, family-wise and professionally, as all of my contacts were in Paris… However, the family decision was taken to go for the new start in the mountains! So, in the summer 2006, we moved to our new life.

How easy or difficult was it to set up a business in Grenoble? What obstacles have you faced setting up the business?

As I had absolutely no network in Grenoble, I first went to the Grenoble Chamber of Commerce (CCI), to a department called Ecobiz dedicated to starting projects and firms. The welcome and the support was just incredible, helping me develop my own network, seek partners, generate clients. In the different stages of my projects, I have been able to count on their support and advice.

In July 2008, I was awarded an award (Coup de coeur) in the Mercuriales contest (organised by the Chambre of Commerce) which rewards the most dynamic and creative commerce. This was all the more gratifying as I was mostly competing with real stores (while still being an internet boutique). This award gave me the confidence I needed to go to the next step and open my store. In September I took a decision and found a store the same week thanks to a real estate agency called Nahmias Immobilier.

The toughest part was probably the financing of the project within my time-frame as I was meeting banks in October 2008 just at the beginning of the ‘crisis’. Here as well, The Grenoble Chambre of Commerce helped me make key contacts in various banks, which was a very helpful way to be introduced. Finally, the project was developed with the regional Banque Rhone Alpes in Eybens, where the director is a very dynamic person, very keen to support starting businesses.

Thanks again to the Grenoble Chamber of Commerce, I was granted an interest free loan of 40,000 € from The Rhone Alpes Region. I think that starting a business has been much easier in Grenoble than it would have been in Paris!

Do you think Grenoble is a good town for entrepreneurs like yourself?

I believe that Grenoble is a great place to start. Probably in Paris my project would have been in the middle of two others, whereas at the CCI Grenoble, the service was really personalised, I didn’t feel alone.

Have you noticed any differences between the work culture in Paris and Grenoble?

There is a huge difference between them. First the mountains give a special dimension to Grenoble. One feels surrounded by nature all the time. People are much more oriented towards health food, walks, excursions in the summer, skiing in the winter. These differences need to be taken into account in the products on offer, in terms of ecological packaging, looking to develop an organic range for example.

What do you miss about Paris?

I love Paris and enjoyed living there. What I miss most is the beauty of the city, just walking in the street, the Marais, the Latin quarter, or simply driving through the voies sur berges, along the Seine.

What advice would you give others thinking about starting up a business in Grenoble?

In my experience I would definitely advise to get as much help as possible from the Chamber of Commerce, starting with the Ecobiz department. If premises are needed, I would recommend the real estate agency Nahmias Immobilier, which is extremely professional and work with their clients as real partners.

How can people order unique cakes from you?

The best thing for people to do is call to discuss the specificity of the order. If they can, we even prefer that they come to the store, where we can the show them different examples. We emphasize personalisation, so the contact with the client is key to proposing the most suited cake to the event.

Have you had many English speakers come into The Cake Shop?

So far, we have had quite a few English speakers come into the store and they were always very enthusiastic to find a part of their culture through the food (bagels, scones, cheesecakes, Philadelphia cream cheese) and through the cake accessories, and to be able to speak English. We are even considering giving some cake decorating workshops in English.

What’s next for The Cake Shop?

Next for The Cake Shop is to have baking lessons (workshops) started: Wednesdays from 15:30 to 17:00 for children, Thursdays from 17:30 to 19:30 and Fridays form 15:00 to 17:00 for adults. We will also further develop our lunch specials via all kinds of bagels and a menu du jour. We have special cake designs ready for Mother’s Day on June 7th (heart cakes, message cakes, cakes with a picture), as well as many creative and fun accessories and books, of course. The same goes for Father’s day (June 20th).

The Cake Shop

11 rue Thiers – 38000 Grenoble

04 76 95 86 62 – 06 86 17 63 79
info@thecakeshop.fr
Tuesday to Saturday : 8h00 to 19:00
Monday : 12:00 to 19:00

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