From freshly baked pound cakes to pies, Pound by Legacy Cakes Inc. is a local family business offering over 150 signature flavors. With Southern-style options like sweet potato and banana pudding pound cakes, the inspiration comes from Maragret Shoffnner Gladney’s secret lemon pound cake recipe.
Margaret Elaine, daughter of Gladney, founded “POUND: Cakes by Maragret Elaine” in 2011. After her mother’s passing in 2019, Elaine changed the name to “Pound by Legacy Cakes” to honor her mother.
“With starting this business, I wanted to take the cake to another level,” Elaine said.
Growing up, Elaine watched her mother bake frequently and take cakes to their church community, which developed her love for baking. While it started as a hobby, it soon became much more.
While the bakery is homage to her mother, it also recognizes the legacy of the family. Elaine’s two sons, Brandon and Anthony Tankard work closely with her to ensure that the business runs smoothly.
While there are dozens of bakeries in Greensboro, the quality of Pound by Legacy Cakes desserts is what makes it unique.
“We are a fresh-baked company and everything is done in-house,” she said. “We provide a product that can be plated fresh out of the oven”.
Elaine also takes the ingredients they use into heavy consideration. GMOs are common in many baked goods since they are heavily found in ingredients like corn syrup, sugar and cornstarch.
“I try not to use anything bioengineered or containing any GMOs–genetically modified organisms,” she said.
Removing these ingredients from their menu was not the only challenge this home-taught baker had to face.
“I’ve had trouble getting my cakes into locally owned businesses or stores due to them already having existing contracts with other businesses,” said Elaine.
Another challenge Elaine and the bakery have had to overcome is inflation, especially during the coronavirus pandemic.
“I kept my prices the same, and I reopened my business during COVID-19 as to-go services,” she said.
The bakery still currently only offers a ‘to-go’ option when placing an order. Despite the setbacks of the pandemic and inflation issues, the community remains a big supporter of Pound by Legacy Cakes.
“Word of mouth brings the traffic through these doors along with my social media marketing,” Elaine said. The bakery’s Facebook page has more than 14,000 followers and over 400 reviews.
”But usually, I get the customers I do because returning customers have told others about this place.”
Along with challenges come lessons learned, not only for entrepreneurship but also for life.
“I’m hard on quality and consistency because I’ve found that cheap is not always good, quality sells,” she said.
While being a business owner has its ups and downs, Elaine’s favorite part of her business is customer satisfaction.
“What keeps me going is the testimonials of customers,” she said. “Hearing stories from customers that the smell of my cakes brings them back to their childhood and smelling grandma’s cake.”For those looking to satisfy their sweet tooth, customers can visit the bakery at 3008 Spring Garden St and visit their Instagram for new updates.
