Something Sweet downtown
Amanda Bowers is bringing cupcakes, coffee and cookies to downtown
[Posted: December 31, 1969, 5:00 pm]
Words by Nick Robinson
Photo by Tom Price
Merced has donut shops, grocery stores and Starbucks, but there’s nowhere to buy a fresh loaf of bread, get a cup of coffee and stare longingly at some pastries.
It’s a familiar refrain for Amanda Bowers, the friendly, no-nonsense mother and owner of Sweet Temptations, Merced’s newest bakery.
“I think I’ve heard that about 200 times,” she says as she opens the door to the old Juice It Up shop on 433 W. Main St., where the walls are covered in primer and the only chair is a small step ladder. Bowers plans a December opening.
Bowers has a straightforward plan for her shop. “It’s going to be a welcome, friendly place that sells decent food in a decent location.”
Bowers, originally from Manteca, learned to bake professionally at Jantz Café in Atwater, where she worked as Bakery Manager for the past three years. But it’s her mother’s cooking that inspires her.
“Mom put dinner on the table every night. The cookie jar was never empty. She always had something around,” Bowers says as she moves a workbench out of the way.'
The menu at Sweet Temptations will include breakfast sandwiches, muffins, turnovers and pastries in the morning and sandwiches, soups and bread bowls for lunch. For dessert, there will be cookies, cakes and pie. Ninety-five percent of the food will be made fresh from scratch.
One item won’t be on the menu: espresso. Starbucks, located just a few storefronts away at 425 W. Main St., negotiated the exclusive right to sell specialty coffee drinks with their mutual landlord, Mainplace Merced, LLC. San Jose-based Encina Investment Group owns nine Main St. storefronts between K St. and Canal St. including Main Place Cinema
Bowers isn’t concerned. “We’re not even in competition with Starbucks,” she says, adding that she found a local roaster and plans to sell brewed coffee.
Sweet Temptations is one of a handful of Main St. shops opening up soon including The Coffee Block, another coffee shop just half a block away on 525 W. Main St.
“The recession wasn’t even a worry,” says Bowers, who plans to eventually hire two employees for prep and counter work.
The new bakery is a long time coming for Merced — and Bowers.
“Everyone says they can’t wait,” she says, getting back to renovations.
