Cakes for all occasions at The Eiffel Tower

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/08/2016 (3522 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Eiffel Tower Pastry Shop and Catering at 1193 Pembina Hwy. has been making delicacies for more than 60 years. It opened on Nov. 15, 1955 in the North End and even though its ownership has changed hands a few times, it consistently produces delicious cakes and pastries.

The shop moved to Fort Garry in the 1960s and its current owner, Brenda Essery, purchased the business 15 years ago. Her daughter, Erin Essery, is currently taking over operations as Brenda prepares for retirement.

Erin initially helped her mother with the business but then went to university to get an education, where she earned a master’s degree in ecology. Erin then worked in corporate retail, where the pace was fast, the pay generous, and the sales approach aggressive. She found it a good way to pay off student debt but not good for long-term life satisfaction, so two years ago she rejoined her mother at the pastry shop and has never looked back.

Erin enjoys and appreciates the freedom and control she has over the environment, products, creativity, and sales approach. The highlights of owning a pastry shop are the ability to keep things fresh and constantly inventing new products and campaigns.

“If we have something that inspires us, we can move in that direction because we have that control,” Erin says.

“As kids we did a lot of baking with my grandma and mom,” Erin remembers. “Mom was an avid baker. She used to decorate the Christmas tree with real cookies. Instead of gingerbread houses she would make us gingerbread trains at Christmas and every day you would get new candies to put into your train.”

Now Erin spends her afternoons decorating cookies and when she sees new ideas she can implement them the next week.

“People phone in with special orders. If you give me a week’s notice I can do just about anything.”
A recent special order was a favourite Christmas fruitcake.

“One of our good customers’ aunts was unwell and they thought it would be her last Christmas. They wanted to have her fruitcake one more time but the aunt could not make it herself.  Her niece asked us to make the fruitcake for her with her aunt’s recipe.

“That is one of the nice things we can do here because we have so much freedom to be a part of these people’s celebrations and to give people those lasting memories,” Erin says.

The Eiffel Tower’s base is loyal, generations deep, and comes from all over.

“The farthest our cakes have travelled is Barbados,” Erin says.

Being active in the community is important to Eiffel Tower. The  charity nearest and dearest to its heart is Alpha House, a women and children’s shelter. It has also worked with Vincent Massey  Collegiate’s many clubs, making donations for fundraisers.

“We love to see young people making a difference in the world,” Erin says.

Helen Lepp Friesen is a community correspondent for Fort Garry. You can contact her at helenfriesen@hotmail.com