Stacy’s Sweet Shop “It’s all organic!” said the girl behind the counter. We stepped outside to get the camera ready as Stacy pulled up the driveway. The bright We showed up a litly dressed already tle early, the shop had only smiling woman approached just woke up. I chatted up us wholeheartedly and the attractive college age girl we shook hands. We exbehind the counter with all changed the usual “Hello the early morning charm I my name is ______”, and could muster. In the back two very quickly felt warm and other young girls warmed welcomed. Stacy asked us up the coffee machine. The how we liked the shop, how shop smelled of a medley we were doing, and what of cocoa beans ice cream we really wanted her to say and sugar, needless to say it in the interview. We talked was...charming. Stacy was for a bit about the weather a bit late. To be honest that and how pretty it is outwas okay. We talked to one side, about the workers, of the regulars, Harry. An about harry and how he is. older man, in his late sixIt seemed stacy didn’t have ties, he was vibrant as ever, a bad thing to say just happy to talk to anyone about anyone. with a smile. He had a report with almost every worker, Stacy is The they knew his order and owner and managasked about his family and er of the Los Altos life. Within a few moments Sweet Shop. Nestled I found myself with a coffee among the quiet and a snack in hand, “I don’t streets of coasteven drink coffee,” I thought, al suburbia lies a but I sipped it up anyways. quaint and joyful
store. The Sweet Shop is the hot spot for coffee drinkers, ice cream lovers, and candy eaters of all ages. Often on a Friday afternoon the store is swamped with kids laughing, shouting, and having a good time. Stacy Sullivan first opened the sweet shop 3 years ago, not knowing quite what she was getting herself into, but knowing she wanted to give back to the community(Kouvelas). The store gives back by donating all of its proceeds to the local schools and district. The shop is a non profit, the only money they keep is used to keep the shop running the rest, goes to schools. Stacy says they aren’t making too much to donate yet, but they are donating more and more every time. Stacy is a bright and outgoing personality, she gives the story everything she has, and it shows. The stores bright and cheery attitude is directly related to her personality and the way
she runs it. She gets to know all of her customers and workers in a way that is truly unique, often you can find her and her employees eating dinner together talking about their lives. They are a family and anyone that enters the store will feel welcomed in their home. Stacy was born in Philadelphia PA, at the age of two she moved to los altos. She grew up through the same school system that many of are going through. She attended gun high school and went to the University of California at Berkeley for undergrad and graduate school. Stacy loves los altos, “this is a very important place for me,” Stacy said. She started working at google in the fall of 1999 and has worked their for 14 years, she
Donate even has one of those nifty email addresses on a first name basis, Stacy@google. com. She is Chief Cultural Officer and the People Operations Director at google. So now, still working at google, with a husband and two kids currently going through the same school
”any profit we can just give
back to a great cause, like to our local schools,” -Stacy
system, she has her life figured out right? No, she wanted more, after all, what good is success if you can’t share it. One day they were walking by the decrepit and soon to be site of the Sweet Shop
and she was telling them what the shop used to be when she was a kid and how it changed over time and she said, “wouldn’t it be cool if we just turned this into something really great for the community, something just really nice that’s not an eyesore or... something great for the neighborhood that encourages them to just walk and ride their bikes and a gathering place.” At this point her mind started to race and she added, “and then any proceeds we make or any profit we can just give back to a great cause, like to our local schools, something like that!” and that in essence is how the Sweet shop startedd. “so the idea was let’s create some type of place where people of all ages can come and they’ll be some type of food or drink that they will be interested in having,” she said. The Sweet shop is not just a spot for kids to get a sugar rush, and that’s important, because there are so many candy shops out there that are just that, a candy shop. The sweet shop is a community center, and a good one at that. See, Stacy wanted to create a new way to give back to the
community. When stacy was little there was always a place for her to feel like she was in a community. As an adult she wants to pass that experience on. “Since our kids have grown up through Santa Rita,
”“so the idea was let’s create some type of place where people of all ages can come and they’ll be some type of food or drink that they will be interested in having,”” -Stacy
through the elementary school and just watching the budget cuts over the year and the number of teachers that have lost their jobs or some of the administration that have been squeezed out of jobs”, she said when I asked her how the budget cuts in education had affected her life. As of 2009 California schools per student spending has been cut by around 20%. California is one of four states to experience
such intense budget cuts(Oliff). But across the nation over 30 other states have experienced similar circumstances with around 10% being cut(Oliff). This result is that in cities across the country thousands of teachers are being laid off. Just recently two of the art department teachers at egan middle school were laid off. And is affecting kids. Of all students across the country 13 percent said budget cuts affected their ability to get the classes they need to graduate(Kingkade). 19% said there wasn’t enough desks for them to sit at(York). And these problems are becoming
more and more common, says MVLA school board director Mark Goins. Mark admires stacy, He thinks what she is doing is great for the community and our local schools. He explained that she hadn’t donated to much in way of money so far, but the amount she does give, makes an impact. Several smart boards and projectors have been installed due to stacy’s work, and surely more are to come. Most of Stacy’s donations go into buying specific pieces of technology for specific classrooms. Because they are a new business most of the money they make is used to keep the shop running(Kouvelas). They can only donate a couple thousand every six months. Stacy says the most important thing is to keep people coming back, to keep it interesting. “one of the best things we have a lot of the ability and freedom to be creative and innovative to try new things,” Stacy said when I asked her what the best part of owning a sweet
What’s Next? shop was. She says she is just really trying to create a spot for people of all ages. One of her favorite days in the shop is thursdays, because every thursday all the people from pilgrim haven, a local retirement home, come by to get coffee and hang out. “they come over here on thursdays for lunch and It’s their big outing for the week they come and they each have their coffee cards and they can’t wait to get their hole punched so they can actually earn their free coffee its like its the highlight of their day”. She hasn’t yet solidified any future plans for the sweet shop, she really thinks that she should try to make this shop as good as possible first. She keeps changing their goodies in order to attract the widest variety of customers. Stacy is a role model for everyone in los altos, we live in a place where we have so much, and if everyone gave back in the way that Stacy does there’s no telling what we could achieve. “it just seems that anything we can do to give back just a little bit even just technology or even just helping to support hiring of part time teachers is gonna make a big difference in even just one child’s life... and once again I’m all about giving back”