A sweet spot: Merrithey cooking up ideas to make her Tiny Kitchen a big deal
Sometimes businesses aren't so much planned as they just happen naturally, an outgrowth of who we are as individuals.
That's the way it was with The Tiny Kitchen.
Its origins can be found during owner Megan Merrithey's high school years at Glenbard East in Lombard, when she started decorating cakes for sale. It continued when she went to college as a side hustle, decorating and delivering custom cakes.
Over the years the side hustle continued, even as she spent 14 years working in St. Charles schools as a teacher, instructional technology coordinator and instructional coach.
“I just have always liked the creativity and creating different cake flavors and dessert flavors,” Merrithey said.
And then Merrithey, a mother of four school-age kids, outgrew her home kitchen, with cakes stored anywhere she could find a spot, as she expanded to little desserts and catered some small weddings.
“My kids were like, do we ever get to eat at the kitchen table anymore?” she said with a laugh.
It was time for Merrithey's side hustle to fly the coop. And The Tiny Kitchen was born.
Merrithey had had her eye on the small former yarn store space at 107 W. Main St. in downtown St. Charles, and it felt like the right place to start when she decided to make the move from her home kitchen.
She left her job in the school district and made her side hustle into her full-time job. Now teaching is her side hustle; she tutors homebound or home-schooled kids who need extra support in the mornings.
And she has worked teaching into The Tiny Kitchen, where she has a gathering space of about 1,200 square feet that can be used for baking classes.
“I have a beautiful, custom-made big farm table and we literally gather around it and I have all the materials and I teach them some strategies and techniques and they go at it with some desserts that I prep for them,” Merrithey said.
She also has a vending machine, from which she can sell individual slices of cake. The idea is to bring in more cash flow, “make money while I'm sleeping kind of thing.”
There's just one problem with the vending machine.
“In theory it's a great idea, but I am having an issue finding a location,” Merrithey said. “I'm not able to have it on site at my building so trying to find another business owner who might want to kind of take on the responsibility of hosting it has been a little bit of a challenge. But when it's up and running it'll be awesome.”
Meanwhile, she's been working to partner with local breweries and wineries that don't have in-house food service but want something to feed customers. She's working with Compass Academy in St. Charles, teaching in their culinary lab and taking in interns who can help with marketing.
“I am very busy. It's kind of like in my nature to be very busy,” she said.
Merrithey employs six people, including two bakers who come in early in the morning to help, plus a few teenagers to work the front counter.
Her location in downtown St. Charles has worked well for her, providing a number of walk-in customers.
“This last weekend with Jazz Fest was really great to just have people just walking in, and we're looking forward to Scarecrow Fest,” she said. The First Street construction can't be done soon enough, though.
Her first-year revenues are around $75,000 so far, and she hopes holiday business can boost her into six figures.
Eventually, of course, Merrithey plans to grow out of her Tiny Kitchen. She now has just about 500 square feet of kitchen space, maybe less, and it's already feeling cramped. She has about 15 months left on her lease.
“I was working in a home kitchen for so long, I was like, 'I can make a tiny kitchen work.' But now that I don't have to restrict myself, I shouldn't restrict myself,” Merrithey said. “I know better what my business needs to continue to grow so the next space will be even better than this.”