Downtown cake shop shuttered by medical diagnosis

LACONIA — Thirteen years ago, LaShunda Allen began pursuing the dream of entrepreneurship. She started Ooo La La Creative Cakes out of her Meredith home, and for the past six years, out of a storefront downtown on Canal Street.

That dream has come to an end, she said Tuesday, a change necessitated by a medical diagnosis.

In November, Allen learned that she had moyamoya disease, a rare condition that affects the blood vessels in the brain. The good news is that there is a treatment available, but the bad news is that she cannot continue her business while also seeking wellness.

“I felt the best solution was to close and take care of my body, mind and soul,” she wrote in a social media post published Tuesday. “Although my staff and I have enjoyed our time in downtown Laconia and serving our community, it is not possible to sustain the cost of running the shop.”

In an interview, she said the illness has made it impossible for her to continue to work in a kitchen, and that, in turn, has required her to re-prioritize her life.

“This is going to be a long process. I have no control over anything, I’m literally being made to sit down and rest,” Allen said. That will be an experience she hasn’t known since she launched her business over a decade ago. “I started running to make that happen, and I haven’t sat down.”

The forced pause has given her an opportunity to reflect on what she has accomplished since she started her business in 2010.

“This has been a coming-to-Jesus moment for me, realizing that I’ve been trying to achieve something that I’ve already achieved,” she said. “All this stuff that I thought was what I wanted, what I thought success was going to be, and I wasn’t able to stop and smell my own roses.”

The past few years have been trying. She has gone through periods without any employees, shouldering all of the duties herself during those times. Inflation has made it challenging to maintain profitability, and weddings, which are the cornerstone of her business plan, have been disrupted by the pandemic. She said it was clear that the only way to move toward a healthier future was to close her business.

Ooo La La Creative Cakes is no longer operating, she said. While she won’t sell her business name, she said she is hoping to find someone who would like to purchase her equipment, perhaps even to start a new bakery in the same location.

Her treatment and recovery will take most of this year. When she is ready to return to work, she said she hopes to do so as an instructor for Lakes Region Community College. She emphasized that she does not plan to go back into business as a cake maker.

Yet, she said she will take many friendships from her shop with her as she moves forward.

“I appreciate everyone’s support,” Allen said. “I couldn’t have gotten this far without them taking a chance on me.”

Those first-time customers often turned into regular patrons, who then became friends with Allen. Ginny Sanborn took that path, first hiring Allen to help commemorate the union between her celebrity dog, “Lucky Jr.,” and his bride, “Daisy,” for a public wedding she threw for them.

“She created the most wonderful wedding cake,” Sanborn said, and from there the two women found themselves united around their love of community.

When COVID caused restrictions for visitation to local nursing homes, Sanborn and Allen collaborated to raise money for ingredients so that Ooo La La could send dozens and dozens of cupcakes to elderly neighbors. Allen also had a separate program, “Cupcakes for a Cause,” through which she would sell cupcakes at her shop and donate the profits to charitable purposes.

Allen estimated she baked and sold at least 120 cupcakes each week through this program, which, over the course of six years, adds up to nearly 40,000 cupcakes, all for the benefit of her neighbors.

The cupcake program was a testament to Allen’s spirit, according to Sanborn.

“That cupcake thing took off big time,” Sanborn said. “The smiles, the love she gave with those cupcakes, was incredible. She’s such an incredible person. ... It was more than just a business, it was the love she had for the community and for the people. You felt the love when you walked into her shop.”

Allen said that she looks back on the years she spent running her shop fondly.

“It’s been a joy working with the community and baking for them,” Allen said. “I’m confident that I’m going to come out on the other side of this. This is a way for me to go in a new direction.”