A new yellow- and white-striped awning greets visitors to the cake café at Caroline’s Cakes in Spartanburg, South Carolina. While the mainly mail-order cake business has often been a bustling hive of activity on Beaumont Street, in 2022, it became a true community hub when it began welcoming visitors inside its new retail space, where guests can sample cake and sip wine or coffee.
There are details tucked into every corner of the recently refurbished building, from a collection of cake stands at the entrance to light fixtures specially designed to resemble whisks, but there’s one detail above all that signifies the true nature of this nationally revered cake business: a neon sign outside CEO Richard Reutter’s office that simply reads “Caroline” in cursive yellow neon.
“That’s Caroline’s signature, and we were able to recreate it from her own handwriting,” says Richard, almost but not quite touching the glowing sign as he gestures. Despite her physical absence—founder Caroline Ragsdale Reutter passed away in 2017—her signature touches are still very much a part of this business in memory and everyday practice, and Richard, her son, is honoring her legacy
