Izzy's offers more than just cakes

Six-year Commerce resident Joann Izzarelli has won over Commerce's sweet tooth with her family-owned and operated business Izzy's Cakes & Bistro.

Izzarelli originally opened the business as a pastry shop, along with her husband and daughter Jamie, on the square in downtown Commerce last October in a trial run venture.

"The reason I put the shop in there was to find out if we could even get a bite in town to be able to service the customers with better cakes and pastries," she said.

It didn't take long for Izzarelli to learn that Commerce was indeed a viable market for her business.

"I've found that Commerce eats dessert first," she said. "This is an eat-dessert-first town."

Izzarelli also discovered a wider, unmet market for Izzy's, which prompted her to move the business to its current location at 1940 Live Oak Street in March.

"The community's the reason we really moved over here," she said. "They wanted something more from us – a healthy alternative to fast food. And that's when we broadened our menu to do gourmet soup, salad and sandwich."

Izzy's serves its full menu during all business hours including breakfast items such as pastries, quiche, muffins and scones, three fresh soups, which change daily and sweet delicacies such as cheesecake and cake balls.

For Izzarelli, the business is the realization of a childhood aspiration, which she recently ended a 30-year career as a regional sales manager to devote herself fulltime to.

"It's something I had wanted to do since I was young," she said. "I think that our area out here needed something like this. You deserve something besides a grocery store cake. Cake's special to us and to our family. It was a huge thing for me growing up and it's a huge thing for my kids and grandkids now."

In fact, Izzarelli said the business is named by way of a family tribute.

"Izzy comes from my father, him being called it for years, me being called it through school, through my whole career," she said. "I did it as a tribute to my dad, who's still living."

However, Izzy's is "not just about cake," according to Izzarelli, a fact many community members are still unaware of.

"A lot of people see Izzy's Cakes and think we only do cakes," she said. "But we do a full-line bakery service and lunch. We feel like we can get you out of here with a healthy lunch for $7-7.50. We are a convenient and healthy alternative to fast food. We do everything fresh."

Izzy's expanded services have been welcomed enthusiastically by many in the community, including faculty, staff and students from A&M-Commerce.

"We have a ‘cult calling' as I call it," Izzarelli said. "We have professors at lunch, all the local business. We're known in the afternoons for the kids to come from the college. We have free Wi-Fi. They come by the carloads and eat cheesecake."

Sophomore marketing major JenAnne Shumway is one of many A&M-Commerce students who have enjoyed visits to Izzy's.

"I liked the ‘small-town' atmosphere,'" she said. "It's convenient for a quick, quaint light lunch."

Izzarelli said one department in particular at A&M-Commerce is highly supportive of her business.

"The athletic department over at the college, Carlton Cooper and his staff has supported us unconditionally. We help energize that athletic department over there. They support us and we get to give it back, so that's a good thing."

Jamie, who manages the shop, created a Facebook page for Izzy's Cakes in March.

"I caught wind that we had a mini-following of unofficial Izzy's fans and they were all posting to each other [on Facebook]," she said. "One person would post to everybody else about what we were serving and things like that."

Jamie said the page acquired almost 100 fans during its first day and has been "steadily growing" since.

Izzy's also dabbles in large catering projects outside of Commerce such as recently supplying Hunt Regional Healthcare in Greenville with 1,600 cupcakes for a celebratory event, and even has a market in the Dallas metroplex.

"We have lots of Dallas people for wedding cake," Jamie said.

Izzarelli said a lot of Dallas area business is acquired through word-of-mouth, as she has a growing reputation as a sugar artist.

"There's not a lot of people that do sugar work like I do," she said.

Izzy's is also involved in charitable ventures. During the week of Sept. 20-26, Izzy's is taking part in CancerCare's 7th Annual Cupcakes for Cause. According to Izzy's Facebook page, CancerCare for Kids is a program that offers free support services to children affected by cancer.

"All the cupcakes we sell next week will go for that," Izzarelli said.

According to Jamie, their goal is to sell 6,000 cupcakes for the fundraiser.

"It's a huge deal for us," she said.

Izzarelli and Jamie are grateful for the chance to be able to give back to community and the loyal customers who support Izzy's every week.

"We see the same people all the time," Izzarelli said. "They'll eat lunch here four days a week. That tells you something.

Izzy's is open Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and Saturdays 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. They can be reached at 903-886-4800 or through Facebook at "Izzy's Cakes."