After a year of supplying the city with postal order treats, it’s no wonder that Full Circle Bakes' Dennistoun shop was met with queues down the street for its opening in June.
It’s the culmination of a whirlwind year for owner Jacky Stabler, 24, who originally started the business as a side project alongside her studies.
She said: “This business is basically my life’s passion.
“I used to work in bars all around Glasgow but always had issues with my mental health and had a bit of a breakdown.
“I decided that enough was enough and it was time to try do something I really cared about so I jumped straight into an HND cookery course.
“I had never had any kind of cooking training or baking experience so it was a bit of a baptism of fire.
“I quit my bar job and during the summer between my first and second year of college I decided to start Full Circle Bakes to see where that could take me.”
During the height of lockdown last spring, Jacky was forced to focus all her efforts on developing a business plan for Full Circle Bakes, a gamble that has more than paid off.
She said: “When I finished college, I still had this little part time business but I couldn’t do markets anymore and wasn’t eligible for furlough, so I found myself in a bit of a tough spot.
“I started doing these weekly Glasgow treat box deliveries but they only lasted a few weeks, I was barely selling ten boxes a week.
“So I decided to give postal orders a bash and that’s essentially what kick started the whole process I’ve had been on for the past year.
“I think because everyone was in lockdown postal bakeries became so popular because they were a bit of a luxury without having to spend too much.”
A luxury product is exactly what Jacky’s creations are. The chunky cookies are stuffed full of indulgent ingredients like peanut butter and stroopwaffle or vegan Biscoff brownie making it no wonder that they became an instant social media sensation.
Jacky said: “The cookies came about during lockdown last year when I was in this sort of middle ground of finishing college at home and not really working.
“I started posting some recipes and bakes on my Instagram, one of which was a replica of Levain cookies from New York.
“The original recipe was on my Instagram for months, I never really meant to start selling it.
“I had people messaging me saying that they would love to buy some of the cookies, so I kept making them and people just kept coming back.
“I’m a professionally trained pastry chef so the way I look at it is that they’re little individual desserts because of the way I develop the flavours and everything.
“So far all the growth I’ve achieved has been totally organic. It’s all been through Instagram or word of mouth or the occasional food blogger who will post about the cookies and then it goes nuts for a bit.
“This time last year I only had about 300 followers and now there’s over 13,000 so it’s just amazing how quickly its grown.”
Full Circle Bakes Instagram followers were thrilled with the news that the team would soon be setting up shop in the East End of Glasgow, a location in which Jacky feels very at home.
She said: “I’ve lived in the area for five years so it was always in my head that If I opened a shop, which has always been my goal, it would be in Dennistoun
“It wouldn’t have felt right if I had opened a shop anywhere else. I spend all my time in Dennistoun, I live, work and play here. I think it’s absolutely great.
“What I love about Dennistoun is it feels very authentic. When you go to some places in Shawlands or the West End they’re trying to do elaborate things or be fancy, but Dennistoun just doesn’t try to be anything it’s not.”
In the four short weeks since the shop opened, the bakery's meteoric success means that Jacky has had to think seriously about plans to expand the business.
It's an impressive progression given that she was baking from her parent's kitchen just two years ago.
Jacky said: “To be honest, we had outgrown the shop before we even opened it.
“Realistically the next step for us in terms of growth would be to get an industrial unit which is just crazy.
“My life now is just completely out with my wildest dreams. I hadn’t ever pictured it getting to this point.
“Because I’m such a perfectionist I’m always looking at what the next step is that I need to take, but that’s something that I’m trying to get better at.
"It would be nice to be able to slow down and look at what I’ve achieved so far rather than constantly thinking about what the next step is.
“Failure isn’t an option for me, so one way or another will figure it out.
“It’s just nuts how quickly your life can change.”
Full circle bakes is located at 276 Cumbernauld Road.
For more information on opening hours visit their Facebook page here.
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