Help Save Muddy Paws Cheesecake

Hello Friends, Long Time Supporters & Those New to Us,

It has been an incredible 30 years!! THANK YOU! We have been so fortunate to serve 222 Flavors of Cheesecake in the Twin Cities for three decades! WOW! I look forward to each day and, seeing all of you hearing your stories. The joy our cheesecake brings you is why we put so much love into our cheesecakes!

HUGE UPDATE 1/2/2024

On Dec. 27th 2023, we had closed our doors. Over the past five years, we have had many unfortunate events, beyond our control, and significant ingredient/supply increases. The “snowball” of how we arrived at this place is explained further down this page. I put the news on our website and Social Media Breakfast and Twin Cities Wedding and Event Professionals were amazing in sharing this info. I was too sad to post about it or put out a press release..but somehow, within hours the news took off at a wildfire pace! Like Wow! I've had dozens of media appearances and over 2 million tags social media. The hashtag SaveMuddyPaws was trending for many days. I have received an outpouring of posts, tags, stories filled with Muddy Paws love! I've answered over 7000 Tweets and IG messages/comments! I cannot tell you how incredible this has been! A very It's a Wonderful Life moment.

In the midst of this, our bakery (and debt) was been noticed by Marcus Lemonis! He has stepped in with advice, a potential Spotify based website and a $40k cheesecake giveaway* order in efforts to help us reopen! It's important thru this process that I prove that I'm willing make changes, learn from mistakes and put strategies in place for 2024. This has all been huge life moment. I'm eternally grateful to those who have reached out, posted, donated, supported, shared their cheesecake love, their stories and to Marcus!

2024 is going to be our year! We are eternally thankful for the $40k cheesecake order Marcus gave us, our live Q&A session on Instagram, the Shopify website that will be ready by 1/5 and ongoing communication with him!

We're going to implement the ideas, requests, flavors, new website, practices, flavors, deadlines and strategies discussed. And the best news is Muddy Paws Cheesecake will reopen on 1/10/24!! Eggroll Queen will be here all day 12-6 on 1/10/24 selling out of their food truck and donating all sales, wow!!

Thank you to all who watched, commented and have supported us! I'm seeing and am so grateful for your sweet comments! This has been an incredible week!

To watch the live Q&A video, go to @ marcuslemonis on Instagram or click below. We're very fortunate to learn, do better and stay open via help and our talk with Marcus!

We'll notify cheesecake winners by this Friday 1/5/24 Midnight!

Instagram Q&A With Marcus Lemonis link

*To enter to win a cheesecake, you may do so on this thread or on Twitter (mpcheesecake): by tagging Muddy Paws Cheesecake, Marcus Lemonis and using the hashtag: SaveMuddyPaws

I'm staying hopeful and as always, grateful!!

Love and cheesecake, Tami

Our Save Muddy Paws Cheesecake Fund will collect through Midnight, January 19th.

See the form on this page to fill out for rewards. To contribute you may Venmo, Paypal (designate as friends n family if possibe to save fees/prevents holds), stop by to donate or mail a check with your donation (Muddy Paws Cheesecake, 3359 Gorham Ave, St Louis Park MN 55426). To donate via Venmo this is our account: @MuddyPawsCheesecake (or @Muddypawscheesecake1 is also fine). THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

All donations of $250 and over will get you a permanent place on a wall in our lobby! The bigger the donation, the bigger the wall placement! If you or your company donate $1000 or more, we will create a custom wall decal with your company logo or signature to be featured be on our main lobby wall! A permanent advertisement! Our customers are very loyal. They will support businesses who donate to us! If you donate over $75, you get a cool t-shirt! And everyone gets an “I saved Muddy Paws Cheesecake” sticker! All donations will also be permanently on our website (with your permission), and we will post on social media.

We have given back to local charities for 30 years. It is a significant part of our mission statement. The name Muddy Paws Cheesecake was created for this very purpose: to give back to local rescues and STEP. It’s now our time to ask for help. Please help us get stable so we can be strong and give back again!

We are all part of the circle. Cheesecake Karma!

Ways to Donate:

• Donate via PayPal (click link) or enter our email address: yummy@muddypawscheesecake.com (note: PayPal holds donations, for a period of time, that are not marked “friends & family” - if possible can you designate your donation as friends and family? We will get all donations, eventually, either way though!)

• Contribute via Venmo: @muddypawscheesecake [We also have a second account under @MuddyPawsCheesecake1 - either are fine]

• Mail a check: Muddy Paws Cheesecake, 3359 Gorham Ave, St Louis Park MN 55426

• Stop by the bakery: we will reopen 1/10/24

  December 30th 11a-2p

  January 8th thru January 11th: 11a - 2p

  January 16th thru January 18th 11a - 2p

  Bakery Address: 3359 Gorham Ave, St Louis Park, MN 55426

  Other ways you can help:

• Share our campaign:

  https://www.muddypawscheesecake.com/save-muddy-paws

• Post the above link on social media (Note: put a photo up, then add the link, vs putting in just the link - it greatly helps algorithms)

• Help by emailing us with anyone you can think of who may be able to contribute. We are especially looking for small businesses and companies or individuals who want to give a large donation - donations $250 and over will have their name on our lobby wall and if the donation is $1000 or greater they will be on our main lobby wall with their business logo/name!

• Pick up fliers on the dates above that we will be at the bakery to collect donations. Post them all over town and in businesses/break rooms, etc.

  THANK YOU!! - Tami

The Snowball That Got Us Here:

• 2018 - We had a destructive burglary intended for a different tenant. People came together to help us (I’m forever thankful!), but our landlord forced us to fix both the inside and outside damage (they came through the roof), which was not covered by insurance and greatly exceeded the funds collected. For safety and financial reasons, we moved.

• 2019 - We moved to our current location. While we were planning our build-out and getting quotes, a quote needed was for plumbing for our 3-bin sink. I asked several plumbers for quotes. One bypassed the quote and applied for a permit without our approval. This led to confusion with the city as we had not yet begun kitchen build-out or applied for permits. We were immediately forced to build out without having time to design, plan, review the budget or options. Every inspector who came out gave us different information, leading us to 4 rebuilds (we even changed the ceiling tiles three times!) and a drain system that was far more complex than needed and installed poorly (we have $3600 on repairs since it was installed). We ran a small fundraiser, but the rebuild(s) cost us $180,000 more than we raised.

• A patron of a nearby establishment drove their car into the bakery after it was rebuilt, and we had another partial rebuild. This was covered by insurance but got us behind on production (loss of sales).

• 2020 - Pandemic. Everyone can relate to 2020; I do not need to expand much on this but for our part, we spent over $50,000 on free deliveries throughout the Metro so that people could get cheesecake on their doorstep. We wanted to give a bit of joy during a difficult time. We also handed free slices to anyone who needed one and donated to several firehouses, hospitals, and first responders. Even though this impacted us financially, it was important to do what we could to help. We only received 10k of relief total.

• 2021 - Two Major Impacts:

  • 1) Muddy Paws Cheesecake was asked to open & sponsor a storefront pop-up to help local artists. A vintage collector requested to fill half the 8000 sq ft space. I agreed and opened West End Artisan. We filled the other half with 40 local artists and artisans who needed a place to sell their creations and/or start their businesses. Branding, equipment, displays, and other startup costs were $154,000. Initial losses plus marketing costs added $96,000. As of August 2023, it has changed 100% local makers. We're proud of our developing and sponsoring West End Artisan - it was a beautiful pop-up store that helps local makers and brings communities together! We got it to a point of stability and well recognized in the Twin Cities. To concentrate on Muddy Paws and Save Muddy Paws, plus the costs to run West End Artisan, it closed as of 12/31/23.

  • 2) I personally lost nearly everything in 2021 (for sensitive reasons and family privacy/kids, I will not elaborate). I do not receive income from the bakery and have worked side jobs to support my 4 kids, as a single mom. I’m forever thankful for the friends who helped/are helping my family when we needed it most. I have become wiser through this. I still trust and have compassion for others, but I’m wiser now. And I have the most amazing four kids ever! Love wins. The past two years at the bakery and personally, have taken their toll on my finances, including the loss of our home and my ability to contribute on both levels. Going forward, I will build in an income for myself. This will also make for a stronger business model. If I have stability, the bakery has better stability. I’m not including personal debt in this fund. I included this to be transparent that I need the bakery to stabilized/receive funding for it’s debts, so that I can start paying my self. If I can pay myself I can put 100% efforts into MPC (without side jobs).

• 2022 & 2023 - The price of ingredients and supplies has skyrocketed over the past two years! 15%-300% higher than pre-pandemic! No one in the food or bakery world is built for this, as we already have slim margins. Many other food establishments are facing the same crisis and closing their doors. My heart goes out to them! We all work so hard for the little profits we get back. We are all filled with passion. What we do get back is priceless: smiles and joy! And stories! We do not want to close! MUDDY PAWS CHEESECAKE can only stay in your life if we get HELP! We have raised prices slightly this year but don’t want to raise them so high that our customers cannot afford them, and we need to stay competitive. Our customers have also become friends. We maintain a busy bakery with loyal customers. With our debt, we have not been able to straddle higher costs and debt. But now with Marcus' help and yours, we will keep going!

  The big picture:

  A recent advisor told me, “Your business model is sound. You’ve withstood 30 years - an amazing feat in itself. You are practically a household name in the Twin Cities. This is just a capital situation - if you get funds, you not only can save the bakery, but it can live on as a legacy beyond your own life, Tami.” THIS. This is the big picture. Save Muddy Paws so it can live on for decades to come. I have strategies in place to make us more efficient, as well (below). Update since this page went up: Marcus Lemonis has helped us in a HUGE way! See our social media pages to read about his amazing help!

Updated Funding Amount Goal: $70,000

Changes, Efficiencies & Strategies for 2024 including Changes promised to Marcus Lemonis

Changes We Plan to Implement to Be Better Efficient (and to not be in this situation again!):

• New Website with Online Ordering (Will be complete 1/5/24)

• Featuring just 7 Flavors (for now)

• Vehicle to pull Camp Cheesecake! Lil Camp Cheesecake Food Truck has been stuck for two years without a vehicle to pull it. Our original vehicle can no longer pull it. Camp Cheesecake needs to get back on the road! We’ll hire a full-time driver to run events. This will help Muddy Paws’ revenue. The vehicle will also serve as a delivery service for Muddy Paws Cheesecake, which will help save courier fees. This will help our customers have lower delivery fees, too.

• Change of hours. We will need to reduce our retail hours to save on labor and be more efficient. This will help our profit margin. New Hours effective 1/10/24: Wednesday thru Friday 12-6p, Saturdays 10-2

• Possible involvement at the Minnesota State Fair

• Bigger refrigerator to order higher volumes of ingredients. This will save on transportation costs and time.

• Reorganizing our lobby for better retail sales and creating sitting areas for customers to eat their cheesecake slices. Possibly self serve slices (waiting on licensing for this).

• Shopify Account for Shipping (Done as of 1/5/24)

• Hosting more events or private bookings at our space (in addition to our community food truck nights!). This will add revenue.

• Getting involved with fundraisers for schools, clubs, organizations, etc. Can your school or club sell Muddy Paws for its next fundraiser?

Do you have Ideas? We are listening! Email us with any questions or suggestions: yummy@muddypawscheesecake.com

For Rewards, Fill Out This Form

TWO EVENTS: January 18-19!

Cheesecake-A-Thon: January 18th, 7 pm through Midnight on January 19th, we will have 24 hours of a LIVE Telethon! Local celebrities, friends, and guests will make appearances! They will help us raise funds, tell stories, and talk about why they love Muddy Paws Cheesecake in the last hours of the fundraiser!

Then, for the last 5 hours of our “Save Muddy Paws Cheesecake” Fund Campaign, January 19th, 7 pm-Midnight, we are having a live feed “Save Muddy Paws Cheesecake” party! 5 bands have donated their time for it! We will dance through the night of the final incoming funds! The final number will determine if we can stay open on January 20th.

More details are coming.