Right Now Downtown

WHO’S YOUR DADDY?

Sugardaddy’s is open and ready to tempt you.  Wow, where to begin?  Who would ever guess that brownies and blondies could offer so many possibilities?

Co-founders/creators Tom Finney, self-taught baking genius, and Mark Ballard, marketer extraordinaire, created a business like no other that began as a labor of love.

The venture launched online at sugardaddys.com and the two experienced profound success after appearing on Food Network.  Did you know InStyle and Ellen DeGeneres rave about Sugaraddy’s?

Mark and Tom discovered along the way that customers want to touch, feel and, don’t forget, taste their products, so they opened their first retail store in the Polaris-area last year.  They had a hunch that downtown was the place to be and Pearl Market offered the perfect opportunity to test their hypothesis.  Now you can find them on the corner of Gay and High streets serving up their Sumptuous Sweeties in a beautiful store you won’t want to leave.

These two Sugardaddy’s hook you with the first bite – Brownie Biscotti, Brownie Cheesecakes, Brownie Truffles, Brownie Pocket Change, Brownie Ice Cream and Brownie Bark envelope you as soon as you hear the baby grand piano playing in the background.

Plan on regular visits – each taste will find you with a new favorite, and you must try the newest creation, Sugardaddy’s Drunken Chunky Blondie, or if you only have eyes for chocolate, get the Sugardaddy’s Fiery Brunette or Auburn Original.

Sugardaddy’s is open at 11 E. Gay Street from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and you won’t want to miss the month-long grand opening specials.

Sugardaddy’s from Downtown Columbus on Vimeo.

Sugardaddy’s Sumptuous Sweeties
11 E. Gay Street
614.888.4491

I visited Cleveland this past weekend with my girlfriend.  Our hotel sat across the street from the arena where the Cavs won a playoff game against the Boston Celtics on Saturday night and a block from the ballpark where the Indians hosted the Twins on Friday and Saturday nights.

We had drinks and dinner on East Fourth Street at Fourth Street Bar & Grill, a bowling alley at the corner of Euclid Avenue with upscale food and an outdoor patio.

Breakfast on Saturday was at the Westside Market.  This century-old Market has vaulted ceilings, a 137-foot clock tower and more than 100 vendors.  It’s more impressive than either Seattle’s Pike Street or Philadelphia’s Reading Terminal Markets.  We also visited the Cleveland Museum of Art, one of the world’s great museums, and saw the movie Kick Ass at Tower City.

Cleveland has a lot of poverty, but we saw many beautiful and well-maintained city neighborhoods:  Ohio City, Shaker Square, Little Italy and University Circle to name four.  The most breathtaking is Edgewater.  Edgewater looks like Bexley but sits directly on Lake Erie.

The trip reminded me how much I enjoy living in a state with so many great cities.

Spring Services: Flower Power (Washing)

As the seasons change, the services provided by Capital Crossroads SID make a season-specific shift.  Though some services, such as graffiti removal, safety escorts and special event support are ongoing, when the warm weather returns, other duties move to the front burner.

First on the list is power washing to clean the winter grime off downtown.  Power washing began on March 22, which is a bit earlier than in other years.  The early spring weather combined with an effort to improve overall power washing program bumped up this year’s start date.  This allowed the two power washing crews to get a jump start on the city’s hot spots, including High Street, Pearl Alley, the COTA bus shelters, and the areas surrounding Columbus Commons, RiverSouth and Scioto Mile projects.  In addition, the SID received a permit to power wash in areas where nighttime power washing can be disruptive.  Finally, a study is underway to find new power washing products that will offer greater mobility and expediency with special assignments.  Several machines will be given a test run in the coming weeks with the goal of finding a machine that the SID can use at any time of day for areas that need immediate attention.

The warm weather also means spring flowers.  Once again, the SID will be planting flowers in the beautiful new Gay Street Medians and in hanging baskets along High Street.  The planting is set for May 24, after the danger of frost has passed.  Advance work includes coordinating with the City to get the water to the sprinkler systems turned on.  In addition, the SID is working with a new nursery called Ambius this year to purchase flowers.  Once all of the flowers have been planted, the Ambassadors will help keep the planters watered and fertilized through the summer months.

At the beginning of May, the SID will begin a special project to stain all of the benches along High Street.  This is part of a general effort to spruce things up along that corridor.  Using a power sprayer, the crews will spiff up the benches in quick time, as the sprayer allows for multiple coats with uniform distribution.  This is a far more efficient process than painting by hand.

Graffiti removal remains a key duty of the Ambassadors year round; therefore, a team of Ambassadors has been chosen to receive hands-on training from a prominent graffiti-removal specialist in Columbus.  This will help the Ambassadors better combat graffiti problems in both the Capital Crossroads and Discovery SIDs.

The Clean and Safe Teams continue to receive special requests for service through the online service request form found on the DowntownColumbus.com Website.  Ben Barker, the new Operations Manager for both SIDs, has developed a new work order system to more effectively assign, track and manage the various requests and special projects that emerge.  This improves efficiency and helps ensure that requests are completed in a timely fashion.

“We are not trying to reinvent the wheel,” explained Barker.  “We are striving to make the wheel more efficient and in doing so improve the duties that the Capital Crossroads and Discovery SIDs have come to expect.”

Current Hours of Operation:

Monday – Friday, 6:30 a.m. – 11:30 p.m.
Saturday, 8:00 a.m. – 11:30 p.m.
Sunday, 9:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.