Dear Editor;

I am writing about a recent article that was published in your newspaper:  “More Cup than Cake” by Lexi Muir.

Let me start by introducing myself:  I am Karen Sutton, Owner and Proprietor of Holy Cow, Cupcakes!, the target of the above-mentioned article.  Also, let me preface my questions and comments with the statement that I have absolutely no problem with any type of business review written for publication.  Please be certain that I am not writing about the overall concept of the review nor my “grade” of C.  As a matter of fact, we immensely appreciate and welcome ANY feedback.  We are always looking to please our customers and improve our product in any way that we can.  However, I am concerned about the way the research, or lack thereof, was executed.

First of all, my permission was not given to take pictures of my product nor my store.  Also, if proper research had been done, some of the falsehoods that were listed would have been negated.  For example, Miss Muir said she saw “a rather bare lime-green wall that was covered with some sort of writing that I did not observe too closely.”  Had she asked about this or observed more closely, she would have had the answer to her quandary:  the writing is lovely lamenting about HCC! and pictures drawn from the littlest ones.  Her statement is one that demonstrates the lack of research done for this article.  Also, in the article Miss Muir refers to the fact that patrons are unable to sit and eat the cupcakes inside the business; again, research would have given the answer to this.  The reason we do not have seats is that it would be a Hamilton County Health Department violation for us to allow patrons to remain in the business to consume the cupcakes.  This is due to the fact that there is not an accessible restroom for customers.  We are looking to expand the business and add space for patrons in the future.  Finally, in reference to the statement, “Because of this rather secluded and odd location, few people know about this cupcake shop and even fewer can actually find it,” I frequently sell out of my product (normally 12-18 dozen are presented at a time) numerous times in the day and must make more.  Had she asked for that type of information, even in an off-handed, non-interview type of manner, she would probably have known that a statement like that is false. I am hopeful that this lack of research was an honest mistake that should have been caught by the teacher or administrator in charge of HiLite Newspaper.  After all, Miss Muir is a student and is there to learn the proper way to write an article from someone her senior.

As far as the review, as I said before, we are happy to have Miss Muir’s opinions and have already taken them into consideration.  We are now working on getting a new bakery case that will hopefully combat the dry air that is impacting our cupcakes.  We would love to have Miss Muir and her family and friends come by at any time after we get this new case to give us a second chance.  We are most certainly not asking for or expecting another review, but we would love to have the chance to make a Holy Cow, Cupcakes! fan out of Miss Muir.

Sincerely,

Karen Sutton