Jessicakes: 23/03/2020 to 04/06/2020

Jessicakes is an artisan cake shop based in Brunswick. The store focuses on creating custom designed handcrafted cakes to help their clients create a unique focal point for their special occasions. As cakes are generally purchased to celebrate important events in people's lives, Jessicakes gets to be a part of these pivotal moments. Jessica Tolsma, the owner explains, “It’s really sweet to go on a life journey with some of my regular clients. I’ve got clients who came for their 30th birthday, their engagement, their wedding and now I’m doing their kids cakes. It’s special to be a part of something like that”. In July Jessicakes celebrated their 9th birthday. In this time, they’ve really valued the warm relationships with their clients, as well as close friendships with the surrounding business community.

When restrictions for social gatherings and events were first implemented in Victoria, it hit Jessicakes hard. “And that's when, I guess the floor fell out from underneath us” Jessica described. Given that the majority of their cake orders were for large events, most of the bookings were cancelled for months. This created an immediate 95% loss in revenue. To cope within this period, Jessicakes started making Covid themed cakes, as well as personally delivering cakes for people in isolation. These initiatives unfortunately didn’t compensate for the losses. This brought quite legitimate concerns about the future. Jessica bewilderedly illustrates, “I just have to ride out the storm and then see what it looks like when we come out the other side”.

Jessicakes is still making cakes. For enquiries contact Jessicakes through their instagram or website.

Contact: info@jessicakes.com.au

Website: jessicakes.com.au

Instagram: jessicakesbrunswick

Location: 18/459 Sydney Rd, Brunswick VIC 3056