A decade in, the partners at The Cupcakerie are still having fun.
Happy birthday to us—Morgantown magazine is 10 years old! As part of our celebration this fall, we’re checking in with some Morgantown business twins that got their start around the same time we did.
Janet Nelson Williams and Anna McCarty Carrier opened the doors at The Cupcakerie downtown in September 2011. Ten years later, they’re still serving up individually packaged moments of frosted delight. We sat down with Williams to talk about student cupcake ventures, an unlikely partnership, and a hot 10-year celebration giveaway.
How has this 10 years been for you?
It’s been a blast. It’s been a learning experience. It’s been hard at times, and it’s been exceedingly rewarding—so much fun to work on the hundreds if not thousands of weddings that we have by now, and absolutely terrific to work as closely with WVU students and other young people as we have.
We’re close to a lot of our former employees—we’ve done their weddings and their baby showers through the years. And at least two former employees have gone on to open their own cupcake stores out of state. It’s been a real honor to have played such a role in the lives of as many young people as we have through The Cupcakerie.
How do you make a partnership work for 10 years?
I don’t know! We’re definitely an odd couple. I have two children older than Anna. Maybe that’s how it works—we can capitalize on our different places in life. She can take a little more time off in the summer with her kids, for example, because my kids are grown and time off in the summer doesn’t mean that much to me anymore.
We’ve always just been able to sit down and talk about things. We’re friends 90 percent of the time, and 10 percent of the time, when we really have to, we put on our business partner hats and get through whatever it is. So we went into this being really good friends, and we’ll come out of it being even better friends.
What do you like about being downtown?
We absolutely love being downtown and so close to campus. It’s a really energized atmosphere that I don’t feel anywhere else in Morgantown. There’s a vibe, a sensation of renewal every August, and the place just comes alive again—it’s almost like you can hear the Mountaineer shoot the musket, and here we go with another great school year. I wouldn’t trade being downtown for anything.
Any cupcake specials to celebrate 10 years?
Yes! Since the people of Morgantown have made our success possible, the last week of September, we’re sponsoring giveaways of cupcakes, T-shirts, and other prizes. Also, each day, some lucky person will purchase a cupcake in which they will find a golden disc.
Then, on Friday, October 1, we will sponsor The Sweet Life Happy Hour on the Courthouse Square from 4 to 6 p.m. Just Jaime from WVAQ will be spinning some tunes from 2011, when we first opened. There will be games and face painting for the kids, and each child can decorate a cupcake free of charge. The giveaways will continue, and brides and grooms can enter a drawing for $400 off a wedding order in the next year.
And then there’s the grand prize. Each recipient of the golden discs should be present to be entered into a drawing. One more golden disc will be available at the happy hour—and one of the discholders will win cupcakes for life!
How can people keep up with the details?
Tune in to WVAQ for commercials and promos—and, of course, follow The Cupcakerie on Facebook.
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