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More than pie to take the cake

Largo's Pie Factory is honored for savory steps to prosperity.

By Mark Albright, On Retail
Published June 8, 2007

ORLANDO - Barbara Barwell liked a key lime pie she sampled at a Key West restaurant so much, she bought the recipe.

Sixteen years later it remains the anchor of the Pie Factory, her Largo business that whips up 550 pies a day for 60 local restaurants. About 300 of these tangy delights are her signature cream-colored, but not green, key lime pies.

On Thursday, she was given special small business recognition by the Florida Retail Federation, the 11, 000-member industry trade group, at a regional retail gathering.

Barwell learned fast, however, that a business needs far more than a yummy treat.

For instance, it took three months to sell her first pie because customers refused to switch to a supplier with no track record. When a seafood chain that accounted for half her business was sold and abruptly dropped her line, she quickly started baking brownies, breakfast muffins and a crustless low-carb quiche. After walk-in customers moaned they needed only a slice, not one of her 30 types of 2- to 3-pound pies, she obliged and then opened Toucan's Coffeehouse Cafe at 12777 Walsingham Road.

The cafe in the bright yellow house with the big front porch now is half the business that generated $750, 000 in 2006 and is on track for $1-million this year, now that a road-widening project out front is done.

"We had to diversify and constantly adapt, but that widening project really hurt us," said Barwell, 67.

One of the secrets to Barwell's pies is time. She cures her key lime pies in the freezer for six days before delivery to let the juice bake in. She shuns lime-green shading done with food coloring as inauthentic. But how much she paid for the recipe remains private.

"They asked for $150, 000," she said, "but I can assure you we paid a lot less."

Retail details

Some surprising research findings also emerged at Thursday's annual symposium at the University of Florida Center for Retailing Education and Research:

- In sales of women's apparel market share: Department stores rose 1.1 percent and special apparel chains by 0.7 percent in the past two years, according to NPD Group. But discount stores share slid 2 percent while other national chains were flat.

"The discount store decline was almost all Wal-Mart," said Billl Lucas, NPD group president.

- One-half of all infant and baby apparel sold is purchased as a gift, not by parents. Parents spend $6.79 a item, but people buying clothes as a gift spent $8.57. So stores are decking out baby departments with more shower gifts.

- In 1985, 35 percent of men bought their own clothes. Last year that doubled to 70 percent, and 93 percent among men 18 to 24.

"When it comes to buying clothes, men are the new women," said Tina White Potter, business development manager for JCPenney.

Fast Facts:

Modest May retail sales gain
Americans shopped hesitantly in May, giving retailers some relief from a dismal showing in April but still raising questions about how strong consumer spending will be in the months ahead. The ICSC-UBS sales tally of 51 stores rose 2.5 percent in May, less than the 4.5 percent of a year earlier, but a sharp improvement from April's revised 1.9 percent drop. The tally is based on same-store sales, which reflect business at stores open at least a year and are considered a key indicator of a retailer's health.

Mark Albright can be reached at albright@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8252.

[Last modified June 7, 2007, 23:06:39]