Thomas Dodge I've been making cake pops for about 15 years now.
It all started when he saw a video on Facebook about cake pops and decided to give it a try. He got pretty good at it and would bring cake pops whenever there was a potluck or work get-together.
One day, a friend told him that cake pops were tasty enough to sell, and Dodge said he'd never thought of it that way.
“I enjoyed them, but they weren't at a level where people were willing to buy them,” the Gillette native said.
There was a craft show at the Cam-plex in May 2022 that cost $50 for vendors to participate, so “we booked it and did a little miscellany in a week,” Dodge said. And the rest is history.
“We had a lot of people contact us right away about graduations, weddings and things like that,” he said.
Dodge and his wife, AbbyA trailer was purchased, renovated, and Cake Pop Kitchen was born.
A grand opening will be held this Saturday to celebrate the opening of the new store at 801 East Fourth Street, Suite 15.
This space is not new to them. They used to make cake pops there when Cake Pop Kitchen started selling wholesale. They turned the space into Jamie Williams And her business, Crafty Korner and Sweets, too. Williams decided to move away from storefront sales and focus on custom orders.
She asked the Dodges if they wanted to rent the entire space and buy her equipment, and they've been trying to make the space their own for the past few weeks.
Going forward, customers will be able to come into the store to purchase cake pops Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. They can also order online, but preparation will take 24 to 48 hours.
After the 2022 craft show, the Dodges will begin traveling with their trailer to local food truck festivals and outdoor events. They have attended the National High School Finals Rodeo each of the past two years.
“My second year, on the first day, one of the contestants ran up to us and her dad said, 'I'm so glad you came. She came all the way from Missouri to tell us about your cake pops,'” Thomas said.
Cake Pop Kitchen currently has 17 flavors, but Dodge believes he has created 60 in the past two years. Dodge said his favorite is the Caramel Coconut, which has a chocolate caramel base coated in sweet toasted coconut, while his wife's favorite is the Andean Mint Cake Pop.
In 2023, Cake Pop Kitchen received a wholesale license from the FDA, and Thomas and Abby made 28 sample boxes of six flavors, packed them in a cooler in the back of their truck, and took a two-day road trip through northeastern Wyoming and western South Dakota.
“By the time we got back home, 12 people had contacted us, asking about wholesale information, pricing, delivery schedules, everything,” he said.
Dodge said he's met “a lot of fun people” on the trip and is grateful for the support from his hometown.
“This seems like a good place to thrive, and so far it's proven to be the case,” he said.
