 |
Dan Bernstein
Pres Columnist HOME | ABOUT OUR SHOP | COOKIE GIFT BASKETS | CUSTOMER COMMENTS | CONTACT US
Published 6/26/2001
A method to her sweetness
Mrs. T's Heavenly
Desserts sounds veddy fussy and veddy British.
Or maybe it summons the fanciful vision of a wisp of cotton candy. Heavenly. Flighty. Untethered to the cutthroat world of commerce.
In fact, Mrs. T's Heavenly Desserts is a rare Riverside delight, tucked away on Ninth Street (near the post office), a practically invisible scratch in the downtown grid.
But to those who know her -- and her cappuccino delights, luscious pumpkin bars and lemon bars -- Mrs. T is anything but invisible. She and her heavenly product line may well be an addiction, worthy of a surgeon general's warning. Mrs. T once had to wean a customer from a daily dose of lemon bars.
I am not a regular patron, but I have dropped in, trying to make it appear that I inadvertently stumbled into in this cheerful confection of natural light, fountains and tantalizing aromas. But it was no accident. Neither is Mrs. T's. There is method to her sweetness.
Ruby and Rudy Tiggs are Chicago natives, high-school sweethearts, old marrieds (nearly 40 years) and relatively new to the Empire. They moved to Riverside six years ago after 22 years in LA. He's a computer wonk for the FAA. She was a loan administrator until she got pink-slipped by a big bank during a '90s downsizing. Then she started to bake.
It wasn't a case of bank burnout. Ruby loved her job. It wasn't a matter of fulfilling a lifelong dream. It was a matter of time. Ruby had it, plus cookbooks and a flair for tweaking recipes to her liking. She also had this memory of a gift basket that arrived at First Interstate back in '87. "It stuck in my mind."
So Ruby started making gift baskets for her Orangecrest neighbors. Then she sold her baked goods to local restaurants. Then Rudy started looking for a shop.
"I wanted my house back," he said. "I couldn't sit down without sitting on ribbons and bows."
Mrs. T's little shop on Ninth Street opened in late January 1997. The very first day, she made $87. "It was awful," said the strikingly beautiful Mrs. Tiggs, who has figured out a way to make a chef's hat look positively chic. But then came Valentine's Day. Recalls Mrs. Tiggs: "It was a smash."
Nearly five years later, Mrs. T's has literally gone heavenly, assuming that's your view of cyberspace. In addition to the Web site, they've got corporate accounts and regular walk-ins who are just as interested in visiting Mrs. T as they are ravenous for her carefully crafted concoctions. Sift through the sugar, and it's clear that Mrs. T has done her homework.
"We did surveys," says Ruby. Taste tests on big outfits, including Rudy's pals at the FAA. "They told me my chocolate chip cookie was good, but there are lots on the market. So I came up with a better one." (She'll say no more.)
She had a muffin-sized cappuccino delight with a whipped-cream topping that "we couldn't sell to save our lives." So she shrunk it to a quarter of the size and sells them four at a time. "We can't keep them in the store."
She has a muffin that sells quite well because she doesn't advertise the fact that it's fat-free.
Mrs. T's explanation for the success of Operation Dessert Storm in face of health-obsessed Californians? "They talk a good game."
The talk at Mrs. T's turns increasingly to a new location. Rudy's got his house back. Now he wants a higher profile: Main Street mall in downtown Riverside. Something tells me Mr. Mrs. T aren't just just talking a good game.
Published 6/26/2001
Dan Bernstein's
column appears on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Call (909) 782-7532;
fax (909) 782-7572; Write: Box 792, Riverside CA 92502; e-mail dbernstein@pe.com
Send comments to feedback@inlandempireonline.com
