A buzz is building for a new bakery that will soon open in the Paradise community of Catonsville.
Taneka Weldon, 32, a former accountant who lives in Pikesville, said her phone has been ringing off the hook from people calling to ask when her business, Whimsy Cakes, will open its doors.
"They call me almost every day asking if we're opening," said Weldon, with a friendly smile, standing in the front of the unfinished shop.
Paradise resident Scott Schools is one of those excited about the shop.
"I can't wait for them to open," Schools said. "That woman has got it going on — she is really something."
A "Coming Soon" sign is displayed in the window. Behind it, a plastic tarp blocks passersby from catching a glimpse of what is inside.
"I kind of wanted to put something here just to say 'We're coming'," said Weldon, who graduated from Morgan State University.
She said she hopes to open the shop at 6241 Frederick Road on March 11 and wants to continue trying to build a buzz about her business in the community.
She had planned the opening for Valentine's Day, but a host of issues with equipment prevented the official opening, Weldon said.
After running her custom cake business from a commercial kitchen, Weldon said she decided to open a storefront.
"I chose this spot because I had a dream about it," Weldon said. "I didn't know where it was, but I saw this building and a line of people standing at the door."
One day, while driving by, she saw a "For Rent" sign at another shop near Lucy's Paradise Cafe down the street in the same plaza.
"I went in there and saw the rent price was really good, but it was just too much work for me to do," Weldon said. "It had no kitchen and I didn't have the money for it."
Her father, who runs his home inspection business, Mike's Lead Inspection, from office space in the plaza, said there was another open space available. He encouraged her to look into it.
Still, she was skeptical about the lack of kitchen in the space, which would be expensive to add, she said.
"He set up a meeting with the landlord," Weldon said. "When he heard what I wanted to, he said he would assist with the build out because they want to renovate the shopping center."
Weldon said Gilbert Moscatelli, managing partner of Esworthy Properties, which owns the building, told her the community wanted her business in the space.
"I like that it's on a main street, where people can still walk, and it's in a community where I can feel safe," Weldon said.
Weldon first got into cake making after a blizzard in 2012, when she was stuck in the house and needed to make her daughter McKenzie, 10, a birthday cake.
Weldon, who said she was always artsy, made the cake in the shape of a skate.
People began asking her to make them cakes for different occasions. Weldon has made a Spiderman cake and a cake that looks like a football.
"Every cake that I've ever done has been my first time," she said.
It was the cable television show "Cake Boss" that truly got her into the cake making business.
Weldon said her initial plan was to open a "cake studio", where she would sell her custom cake creations.
"Then [Moscatelli] called and he said, 'Taneka are you going to do doughnuts and coffee? Because the community really wants that.'," Weldon said.
"So that is when I added the coffee, the doughnuts and the retail part of it — just to please the community so they have something at hand that they can grab."
To cater to the sweet tooth of those in the neighborhood, she will sell a variety of sweet treats including cakes, cookies, cupcakes and doughnuts, Weldon said.
Coffee from Zeke's Coffee will be served, and in the future panini sandwiches and salads will be added to the menu, she said.
Stuart Merenbloom, immediate past president of the Paradise Community Association, said he believes the new business is part of momentum building in the community.
"It's a shot in the arm for the shops in Paradise and I think it will be a drawing card for those folks that don't come over the bridge," Merenbloom said.
"I have been in the community for 15 years and I cannot recall a bakery on this side of the bridge," he said.
Weldon said she plans to pass the business on to her kids, McKenzie and Nicholas, 7.
"Instead of working for someone else, I'm going to build my brand and be the legacy of my kids," she said.