By Jason A. Smith
jsmith@henryherald.com

Shelley DeLisle took a chance by opening a small business on The Square in McDonough, in the face of a major economic recession.

“I love the McDonough Square, and I’m a real big proponent of small business,” said the 49-year-old former market executive. “Being a small-business owner is the hardest job you’ll ever find, because you have to do everything. You’re taxed to death, and it’s a tough world. I just thought, if I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it now.”

DeLisle is the owner of Bliss, a cake-decorating studio and bakery, located at 20 Macon St. The focus of Bliss, she said, is three-fold: cakes, specialty gifts, and classes. One part of the business centers on its custom cakes and novelty cakes. “I do very elaborate stuff, like you see on television,” she said. “So, this really is a private cake studio. It’s not a bakery, per se.”

She said the rear of the business will eventually be converted into a “cupcake cafe,” to allow customers to satisfy their sweet tooth in unique ways. “We’re going to have three cupcakes every week — two standard, like a yellow and a chocolate, and then we’re going to have one feature cupcake every week. The feature will be something you never thought you’d ever eat.”

DeLisle also plans to incorporate classes and demonstrations at Bliss, to enable customers to learn the art of decorating cookies and cakes. “There are a lot of really cool tools out there, so I’m gearing them toward more of a soccer mom — the mom that wants to bring cool cupcakes to school, or cool cookies, but they don’t have a lot of time,” she said. “They want tools to help them, and they don’t want to make an investment in classes where you have to go for so many weeks. They want to come in for an hour-and-a-half demo, and walk away with the ability to do some really cool things.”

The front of the shop, she said, will include candy, cookies, and gift items to celebrate the births of newborn babies, as well as for weddings and bridal showers. “When you walk in the door, there’s something to attract your attention — chocolates and sweets and cupcakes and gifts,” she said. “It’s kind of a multi-purpose shop.”

The “self-trained” entrepreneur formerly worked in a corporate setting, she said, handling marketing operations for Electronic Data Systems. She said she has been building her cake-decorating portfolio for the last 10 years, looking for a way to use her skills to benefit others. The opportunity to do so, DeLisle continued, came six months ago, when she heard about a space opening up at the former Koffee Klutch, where her business now stands.

She said part of her inspiration for Bliss came from helping her mother, Joan Wheat, market the Secret Garden, a novelty and stationery store on The Square. “She’s done a really phenomenal job,” said DeLisle. “My mom used to cake-decorate when I was little, and so, I kind of watched her and took up cake-decorating.”

The Bliss owner admitted it can be intimidating to open a new business, particularly during a struggling economy. “I think it’s always daunting to open a new business, just because I think small-business owners are the hardest-working people you will ever meet in your life,” she said. “In this economy, I think it’s even more daunting, because you don’t know what things are going to be like. But I’m really confident in this business.”

One reason for DeLisle’s positive outlook is the changing needs of customers, who are planning special events. Her desire, she said, is to provide “flexibility, and a “one-stop shop” for those individuals.

“With an economy like this, people still want the nice things, but they want it at a lesser expense,” she said. “Most of the brides that come to me are very cost-conscious. We’re trying to say, ‘Here’s a lot of things that you can do yourself to cut costs, and then you can put that money into something else that you want.’”

Prices at Bliss start at $1.85 for cupcakes, and $65-75 for novelty cakes. Wedding cakes, said DeLisle, are available at a cost of $4.50 per serving. Bliss, she said, will host an Easter-themed demonstration March 28, at 1 p.m. “We’re going to show people how to do Easter-basket cakes, cookies and candy ...,” said DeLisle.

Jessica Brannon, 29, a cake designer at Bliss, said what stands out about the new business is the variety of specially made items available at the shop. “When you go to some of the other bakeries in McDonough — the grocery-store-based places — you have to pick what’s there,” said Brannon. “You have a book, you get to look at that and pick which one you want. Here, we will custom-design it for you. You can bring in your pictures, we can combine different elements, different flavors. We’re going to do what you want. It’s something you would get in a big city, but we have it in a small town.”

Linda Moffenbier came to Bliss to help with baking at the shop, after working for DeLisle’s mother at Secret Garden. Moffenbier, 51, describes Bliss as “a little bit of everything.”

“We’re just looking at it as a fun place to be and to work,” she said. That’s what we’re hoping — that people will see it as a fun place to be and will want to come back.”