Pie Shop Comes Full Circle

Ownership of the Sweetie Pies pie shop in Fish Creek has come around full circle, which is quite appropriate, if you know what I mean … pie, round, get it?

The quaint little shop located on Highway 42 south of town has been turning out pies since Susan Croissant Murphy began the business in 1995 and has developed such a outstanding reputation that most people on the peninsula can’t help but think of Sweetie Pies when the word pie is mentioned.

Success grew on Susan’s recipes and carried on when two couples, David and Renny Lea and Cathy and Larry Mazurek, bought the business from her. But the story took a heart-warming twist a year ago when Susan’s daughter Olivia Lowery bought the business with her partner Chris Reichel.

“I think Mom had always thought I’d take over someday,” said Olivia. “Looking back, it seems like I always sort of dreamed about it but never really considered it a reality for various reasons.”

The reality came when the Leas and Mazureks decided to sell.

“They had been amazing stewards of my mom’s legacy,” said Olivia. “Mom hinted that I should look into it. The idea tugged at my heartstrings, but I thought it was just a pipe dream.”

Then Chris came into the picture.

“He liked the idea of a pie shop and encouraged me to look into the possibilities,” she continued. “With his support I took the entrepreneurship class offered by the Door County Economic Development Corp. Not only did I learn to write a business plan, I got connected with the right people.”

But don’t expect the basics of the business to change much.

“I believe that two factors have mainly made this business successful,” she explained. “A superior product and a customer service model that is truly exceptional.

Our pies are unlike any other. We never have and never will use a dough sheeter or dough hook. Our dough is made in tiny batches, mixed and rolled by hand. This makes the flakiest, most tender dough. There is no ‘filling.’ Our pies are literally full of fruit, with just a little flour, sugar and butter. No cornstarch, gelatin … no filler.”

It’s a process Olivia has seen from the beginning, lending her mother a hand when she was 17 years old.

But the process requires many hands, and Olivia said it is her crew which has continued through the transition that has made the decision to buy a good one, especially with the added challenge that comes with the birth of twin boys to Olivia and Chris.

“It’s exciting because the business could survive on the status quo,” she said.

But now that things have settled down a bit, she plans to incorporate a few of the ideas she incorporated in her business plan.

Perhaps the most ambitious are expanded “road trip” offerings. It was something the Leas and Mazureks did once a year with a Chicago/Milwaukee run of pies that numbered near a thousand. Olivia envisions taking the road trips online with pie runs to various areas once a certain number of orders are reached.

But visiting the quaint little pie shop is still the best way to enjoy the entire Sweetie Pies experience.

“As Chris reminds me, we don’t ever want to get too big for our britches,” said Olivia. “No aspirations here to be a Sara Lee.”

Just the best second-generation owner she can be.