Walk through NoRA Cupcake Shop’s bright pink doorway and prepare to stare. Antique couches, bamboo floors, and oriental rugs are only a few of the quirky furnishings inside the store, which opened in December 2011 on Main Street’s north end. Vintage King Kong posters line the brick walls as three TVs play old rock-and-roll concerts. Nailed up on a wooden board are the day’s flavors: Irish Car Bomb, Adult Twinkie, Apple Bourbon Pie, and other unexpected varieties. Not your typical cupcake shop.
Plopping herself down on a gray suede couch, NoRA owner Carrie Carella opens her HP Laptop. Dressed in faded jeans, a black cotton zip-up sweatshirt, and black Vans slip-ons, she is posting the day’s cupcake menu on the NoRA Facebook page.
“Social media has totally changed the way we communicate with customers,” Carella said. “We have just about 5,000 fans on Facebook!”
Carella sets her laptop down on the toboggan-sled topped coffee table and pulls her dark brown hair into a messy ponytail.
Thirty-eight-year old Carella was born and raised across the river from Middletown in Portland, CT. Though she left the area to attend college and graduate school in upstate New York, Carella returned home in 1997 and started working at Eli Cannon’s Restaurant on Main Street. She worked as the restaurant’s bartender—a position she held in New York throughout college and graduate school.
At Eli Cannon’s, Carella came to know Phil Ouellette, the co-owner of the establishment. Over the years, Carella shared with Ouellette her dream of opening up her own cupcake business someday.
In the summer of 2011, Ouellette enabled Carella to carry out her dream. When a storefront opened up across the street from Eli Cannon’s, Ouellette approached Carella and told her, “Now’s the time to do something new. I’ll partner with you, and we’ll do this together.”
Carella remembers the day clearly.
“He pushed me out the door, saying, ‘You’re stupid if you don’t take this opportunity,’” she recalled.
Although she never attended culinary school, Carella said she always loved baking with her dad. On nights when there was no dessert around, Carella’s dad would insist that they whip something up together.
Ever since she received Ouellette’s blessing to build a cupcake shop and brand, Carella said she had a blast generating the shop’s crazy array of cupcake flavors. Recently, she created a test batch of a cupcake called “Husky Husband,” inspired by the Ben & Jerry’s “Chubby Hubby” ice cream flavor.
While this flavor has yet to gain popularity given its recent release, another flavor has worked its way to the top-selling NoRA cupcake chart: the Irish Car Bomb. Based on the drink of the same name, which consists of half a pint of Guinness, a shot of Jameson, and a shot of Bailey’s (which is then dropped in the boiler and tastes like chocolate milk), the cupcake is made of chocolate Guinness cake filled with Jameson chocolate ganache, dusted with Bailey’s cream frosting.
“People love this cupcake,” Carella said.
As an added bonus, Carella doesn’t just make her cupcakes out of everyday ingredients. Every week, she attends the local farmer’s market and supports the vendors by purchasing their locally grown and sourced ingredients to use in her cupcakes. She loves supporting the local farmers and often finds inspiration for flavors from the fresh produce available at the market each week.
“You help your neighbors out, and they help you out,” she said. “That’s how I see it.”
When not reaching out to neighbors, doing tasks around the storefront, or pushing the envelope with innovative cupcake varieties, Carella can be found in her office. She may be busy booking weddings, going to the bank, responding to emails, or updating the NoRA Facebook page. On weekends, she bounces from location to location.
“It’s all about networking,” she said. “It’s how you market and build your brand.”
One way Carella tries to market the company is through the NoRA Cupcake Truck.
“When we first unveiled our truck, we had to beg people to allow us to bring it to their locations,” she said. “Now, we get invited.”
The truck frequents farmers’ markets, birthday parties, wedding parties, graduations, and the University’s campus most weekends.
“The great thing about cupcakes is that the clientele is everyone,” Carella said. “Who doesn’t like cupcakes?”
Although cupcakes are all the rage nowadays, they are often said to be no more than a “trend.” The million-calorie question: Will it last?
“Honestly, I don’t think it’s a trend,” Carella said, shaking her head. “Anything that’s a good product, exciting and creative, will stand the test of time.”
Even though she is confident that her cupcakes will always sell, Carella has recently broadened her menu by adding some savory options.
“Not a lot of places in the neighborhood are open for lunch,” she said. “If you have to make a decision between getting a cupcake for after lunch or just getting lunch…we are trying to solve that problem.”
She has begun offering soups and croissants, and she plans to expand the menu further. Carella’s business is growing every day, and she now employs four full-time employees.
“All aspects of the business are increasing: Catering, mobile business, daily walk-in traffic, [it’s] all on the rise,” she said.
Carella’s long-term aspirations include having multiple stores and multiple trucks, as well as offering the cupcakes in other restaurants with wider wholesale distribution.
“I don’t just want to create a cupcake—I want to establish a brand,” she said. “Martha Stewart like.”