Au Revoir, Sweet Lady Jane

Almost twenty years ago (yikes!), the gorgeous girl in the middle of the above photo was part of my regular visits to LA. Erin gave facials at the Ole Henriksen salon on Sunset Boulevard, and I can still say hands down that she was the BEST. On top of that, she’s a kick-ass gal that you would want on your team and as a friend. I enjoyed our conversations as much as I did the facials. On one of my visits, she told me and Doug that we HAD to try the cake at Sweet Lady Jane bakery on Melrose. When Erin spoke, we listened.



The bakery was small, but its desserts packed a wallop. They were especially known for their Triple Berry Cake. It was one of the most amazing concoctions; sweet, delicious, and light. You didn’t feel like you had gorged on something that left you in a food coma. It was out of this world and paved the way for the fame that Sweet Lady Jane experienced during their tenure. From their website:

AT SWEET LADY JANE, OUR MISSION IS TO CREATE DECADENT DESSERTS THAT LEAVE A LASTING IMPRESSION. Sweet Lady Jane first opened our doors on Melrose in 1988. Founded by Jane Lockhart, our dessert shops focused on using the best quality ingredients and simple technique to create something undeniably delicious and unique. Cakes, pies, tarts, cookies– these craveable desserts became popular throughout the Los Angeles area and more locations were soon to come. Ever since, Sweet Lady Jane is the premiere destination for every special occasion. We aim to deliver the most special and delicious centerpiece for every gathering with a focus on consistency, quality, and taste. Our beloved Triple Berry Cake has been spotted at the celebrations of friends and celebrities alike. More than three decades later, we continue to commit to crafting confections that guests love and making hosting just that much easier.

The bakery wasn’t just frequented by ordinary folks like me; it was also a favorite of Hollywood celebrities including Taylor Swift, Sophie Bush, Blake Lively, and Kim Kardashian. Whenever I had a special occasion or birthday, Sweet Lady Jane was my go-to bakery. On one occasion, I bought one of the Triple Berry Cakes to take back home to San Diego. I was staying at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and asked them to put it in their refrigerator overnight (the one in the room was too small). When it came time to checkout, the staff had no idea where the cake was and refused to compensate me. Yes, I was honked off. For a fall 2015 event I was having at the Chateau Marmont, I met with one of the Sweet Lady Jane employees to create a custom designed cake.



She couldn’t have been friendlier and the result surpassed all expectations. The lemon cake was divine and the little chocolate pawprints (for Willis) were adorable.



When it came time to celebrate Shirley Temple’s birthday anniversary after the pandemic had ended, the cake had to come from Sweet Lady Jane. Here, SJR and Melissa (aka “The Colonel”) proudly stand outside the bakery, circa April 2022:



Shirley T. herself would have been proud of the resulting Triple Berry Cake!



That summer, to honor my friend Will’s birthday, a decadent chocolate ganache cake was ordered. Decadent is an understatement.



Last April, I returned once again to Sweet Lady Jane for a Shirley Cake.



The interior, as snapped by Melissa:



Sea Salt Brownies were added to the mix of sweets; oh how I could use one now! They melted in your mouth and had just the right amount of salty mixed in with the sweet chocolate.



Shirley’s rich cake and brownies are shown below. I also loved the elegant gold candles that Sweet Lady Jane gave out with their cakes. Well, they didn’t exactly give them out. I paid for them.



Lighting the candles:



Have you got a picture of how I feel about Sweet Lady Jane yet? Now maybe you can understand how it hit me when a friend told me that this favorite LA tradition was no more. From their January 1, 2024 Instagram announcement:

Dear Community, After 35 years we are closing our doors. Our last day of business was December 31, 2023. We did not come to this decision lightly nor quickly. While the support and loyalty of our customers has been strong, sales are not enough to continue doing business in the state of California, allowing us to service our lease obligations and pay our treasured employees a living wage without passing those costs directly on to you. For more than three decades, we didn’t just build a loyal customer base, we created a real community. It has been a privilege to be included in your sweetest moments. Big and small. LA’s most beloved Triple Berry Cake will live on in your memories, and in ours. Thank you. Sweet Lady Jane

From Blake Lively:

No. No. No. heartbroken sending love and gratitude for the years of joy and deliciousness. Come open in NY. We need you here :)

The comments were a mixed bag of sadness from former customers and also some nasty snipes from what might perhaps be called social media trolls:

I have loved your cakes for years but to blame California for your over expansion and the woes that come with that is unfair. Where else in the country except NY can you charge $100 for a cake? So California and Los Angeles were good to you all these years in making your business, now it’s to blame. Sorry - It’s on you! So sorry for your employees and that they got no warning of this.

*

It’s baffling to attribute the issues to California. If you believe that fairly compensating your employees led to your downfall, perhaps you don’t truly value their contribution. We invested in your pricey cakes, a luxury not available in many states, yet you can’t prioritize a decent minimum wage for the ones who shaped your business’s success over the years. Quite disappointing.

A rebuttal:

They can but if after paying a decent wage they have $0 profit why stay open? They are not a vessel for employees and government taxes, they are a business, meaning they had to make over $200k profit in California per location to stay viable.

I took Lady Jane’s surprising announcement at face value, assuming their downfall was a combination of a too-quick expansion, faltering economy, and California’s high cost of living/crazy taxes. Apparently there was more to the story as there so often is. Edited from a January 13th LA Times Article:

For nearly seven months, the companies behind Sweet Lady Jane have been embroiled in a class-action lawsuit filed by an employee who alleged wage theft, according to court documents reviewed by The Times. Employees also said the company suffered from mismanagement. Blanca Juarez, who worked at the bakery for about two months in 2022, alleged that Sweet Lady Jane LLC and SLJ Wholesale LLC did not compensate her for all hours worked, including overtime, as well as for missed meal periods and rest breaks, according to a complaint filed June 30 in Los Angeles County Superior Court. “Defendants engaged in a pattern and practice of wage abuse against their hourly-paid or non-exempt employees,” the lawsuit reads. Juarez also accused the bakery of not keeping accurate payroll records and of failing to provide “reimbursement for necessary business-related expenses,” according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleged that Sweet Lady Jane had the ability to pay but “willfully, knowingly, and intentionally failed to do so” in an effort to “increase Defendants’ profits.” In court filings, the bakery chain denied Juarez’s allegations and called the complaint “unverified.” Lawyers wrote that Juarez and other employees who could join the lawsuit have been paid “all sums earned by them that are due.” In a court document filed Tuesday, lawyers said the companies intend to file for a state alternative to bankruptcy, which could allow creditors, including former employees, to try to recover what they are owed. Some former workers have been offered severance packages, according to documents obtained by The Times. The documents say that if employees sign the deal, they must agree not to join lawsuits “seeking any additional amounts of money or to participate in any class, collective or representative actions.” Concerns over finances predated the companywide closure. Phoebe Davidson, who was employed from summer 2021 to summer 2022, said Sweet Lady Jane had been cutting back on its menu and hitching up prices. When a 9-inch cake had cost about $90, Davidson said, customers would often round up to $100 for a tip. But the company raised the price to $100. “Then people wouldn’t tip us,” Davidson said. “And we started asking for raises, and they were like, ‘Well, there’s no money for raises.’ How’s that possible when we’re selling thousands of dollars worth of cake a day?”

Davidson’s comment is typical of those who don’t run a business themselves. When a company overextends itself financially with expansion and remodeling, the money to cover those expenses has to come from somewhere, and that’s why the products have to exponentially increase in price. Sweet Lady Jane’s $100 cakes surpassed the general customer’s pain threshold and the business had to close. Sad, but this is not atypical of business in general. This one just happened to play out publicly.

With my 60th around the corner, where will my cake come from now? I don’t think Sweet Lady Jane’s cannabis friendly neighbor on Melrose is going to be the solution:



Erin, I am relying on you to find the next best alternative!



See more photos at my main website.