For Stephanie Hart, owner of Brown Sugar Bakery, an unfortunate accident came with a major silver lining.
After a car drove into Brown Sugar Bakery in Chicago’s Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood in March, causing damage to the flagship bakery, an outpouring of community support brought the story to the attention of our URW Airports team.
“As Chicagoans ourselves, we believe in doing our part to serve the local businesses in our community—especially in times of need,” said Wally Kruce, URW’s General Manager at O’Hare. “We reached out to The Goddess and Grocer, another local minority-owned business, to see if they would be interested in carrying the bakery’s products at its Chicago O’Hare International Airport’s Terminal 5 (T5) location and just a few weeks later their treats are now available to T5 customers.”
“We are so grateful to The Goddess and Grocer, URW, and The Chicago Department of Aviation for welcoming us into O’Hare,“ said Stephanie Hart, owner of Brown Sugar Bakery. “Getting my products into Terminal 5 has been on my vision board for years, so this is a dream come true. It truly is a gift to help put smiles on the faces of travelers from around the world.”
Sulaiman Rahim, owner of The Goddess and Grocer at Terminal 5, was on board to help out.
“We support local small businesses because we are one. Brown Sugar Bakery products are a perfect fit for our customers,” Rahim said. “As a veteran airport concessionaire, we are passionate about helping others navigate doing business in the airport, and we are excited to help Stephanie achieve her goals.”
Hart, a minority, woman business owner, is in her twentieth year at her flagship bakery in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood, with an additional location at Navy Pier and retail products available throughout the Chicago area. After a conversation with Chicago Department of Aviation Commissioner Jamie L. Rhee, Hart set her sights on Terminal 5.
“Local offerings from minority- and woman-owned businesses like Brown Sugar Bakery are a win/win for both travelers and their community establishments,” said Rhee. “We are grateful to URW and The Goddess and Grocer for supporting local entrepreneurship at Chicago’s airports.”
“I love having a business based in the Chicago neighborhoods, but being able to share our local culture and engage with travelers from around the world is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Hart. “It is a pleasure to be collaborating with the teams from The Goddess and Grocer and URW Airports.”
