A New View of Ferguson
Local business owner finds hope beyond the strife
There’s the Ferguson, Missouri, the world knows.
Demonstrations erupted in the small St. Louis suburb after Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot and killed in August 2014 by Darren Wilson, a white police officer. Months later, a grand jury decided not to indict the officer, setting off a second wave of protests, vandalism and arson, all documented by national and international media.
Then there’s the Ferguson that Natalie knows.
“It’s a community of various races, ages, classes of people. It’s family-oriented. It’s not that war zone that it was depicted as in the media at one point,” said Natalie DuBose, who opened Natalie’s Cakes & More in Ferguson’s downtown business district less than two months before the riots
DuBose talked with us about the protests that impacted her business, how she’s been able to grow her bakery with help from Starbucks, and what she wants others to know about her community.
What inspired you to open your own bakery?
I was born and raised in the heart of north St. Louis, with nine brothers and sisters. Baking was a hobby that started with my dad. I watched him and took notes because he was a “dumper” — an old-school cook who dumps everything in a bowl without measuring at all. I’m still shaking my head about that, but he created the most amazing recipes from scratch, including a caramel and chocolate cake that I loved.
When my marriage ended in divorce, baking and decorating cakes became therapeutic for me. I was a single mom with two children, working two jobs. I found a way to sell baked goods at a weekend flea market. Each weekend I brought more products to sell. And each weekend I sold out.
With my hotel job I worked an eight-hour shift and was bringing home a biweekly paycheck of roughly $358. That’s from a full-time job. My $75 investment on the weekend for a flea market booth resulted in $250 for two days. I knew then I had something.
With savings from weekend bake sales, I was able to sign a lease and open a shop on June 29, 2014. I’ve since hired my dad as a part-time baker. He has to follow my recipes now. And my mom helps out too. For a while I continued working a night shift as a van driver for a local hotel. I’d take my kids to school in the morning, go to work at the bakery, pick them up from school, and then go back to work at night.
My kids were my inspiration. I wanted more for them. I had a good childhood, but I wanted to give them more.
Your business opened a few days before the first demonstrations following Michael Brown’s death. What was the community like at that time?
For two weeks, people didn’t come into my cake shop. Two weeks straight. The business district was cleared out. It was tense and nobody was coming through the door. I called my manager at the hotel to pick up some more hours driving the van again to try to keep my business going. Then in November (when a grand jury decided not to indict the officer who killed Brown) demonstrations began again. A few days before the rioting made its way to the street my bakery is on, South Florissant, I had provided food and water to demonstrators whose target seemed to be the nearby Ferguson Police Station. I believed them when they said, “Miss Natalie, we’re not going to hurt your business.” I believed them. But they did.
I was with my kids the night a neighbor called and told me protestors were damaging my building. I had to get down there to see. It looked like a scene from the movie “Independence Day.” It was insane. Police cars were on fire. Glass was all over the street. As I got closer to my bakery, I could see furniture from the neighboring law office was sitting in my shop. All the windows were broken. All my equipment was damaged. I couldn’t do anything but cry.
With worldwide media attention on the community of Ferguson, a news crew captured video of me crying as I looked at the shattered Natalie’s Cakes & More storefront. That video resulted in donations from around the world as more than $100,000 was raised to help me rebuild the cake shop. Reporters asked me what I was going to do with the money. I just said, “I’m going to keep my shop open. I’m going to help the rest of Ferguson.” No matter how big we get, I will always have this shop.
Ferguson is still standing. Hope is in the air.
Your shop is doing well these days and you have a big client with Starbucks — providing Natalie’s Caramel Cakes for more than 30 stores in the St. Louis area. How did your bakery get connected with Starbucks?
A frequent visitor to Natalie’s Cakes & More turned out to be my angel. Nancy Siemer, a district manager of Starbucks License Division, walked into the bakery to ask me how I was doing. She had seen me on the news and just came in to check on me.
Over the next few months, Nancy introduced me to Starbucks leaders who were interested in supporting entrepreneurs by selling their packaged food and snacks in Starbucks stores. (Formed in 2015, Retail Branded Partnerships seeks out small, local companies with innovative products and brings them to Starbucks stores. Some of the food options are offered regionally, while others are carried in stores across the U.S. Starbucks has launched more than 15 small brands in select stores in the past year).
I’ll never forget when I met Mesh Gelman (Starbucks senior vice president, Retail Branded Partnerships) and he said to me, “Natalie if you’ve never dreamed big before, I want you to start dreaming big now.” I’ve been dreaming big ever since and things have been happening. Opportunities are coming.
What’s next for you?
It’s important to me to talk with young people in the area and let them know they can launch their own dreams and businesses too. When I lecture to students in high school and at the local universities, one of the messages I want to come through is that if I can do it, others can too. It’s not easy, but it is worth it. Natalie’s Cakes & More has grown from two employees initially to more than 22. My signature caramel cake is now available in 30 St. Louis-area stores. It’s also in Starbucks first store in Ferguson and that means a lot to me. The new Starbucks store is a wonderful symbol that the community is worth investing in.
As important as the products are that we create — and there are a few more baked items I’m developing for Starbucks — what I really want to be my legacy is that Natalie’s Cakes and More supports youth, supports education and supports the community.
I love this community and eventually the world will get to know who we really are. Ferguson is still standing. Hope is in the air. We’re a resilient community and we’re going to be OK. Standing up against that wall, we came out stronger than ever.
