Culinary entrepreneur succeeding in Upstate SC

By Mike Switzer

Published May 3, 2023 at 5:30 AM EDT

For the past 40 years, our next guest’s Upstate family-run bakery has been shipping seven-layer cakes across the country and receiving national recognition. Today, we’re going to look into their secret to success. Mike Switzer interviews Richard Reutter, president of Caroline’s Cakes in Spartanburg, SC.

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Mike Switzer

After almost 20 years, Mike Switzer retired from Wells Fargo Securities in 2001 as Senior Vice President/Investment Officer and Certified Portfolio Manager. In 1999, he and his wife, Maggie, purchased and operated for eight years the Baskin Robbins ice cream store on Forest Drive in Columbia. They grew the store from a bottom-tier operation in the Baskin Robbins franchise system to one in the top 5% nationwide within three years, tripling sales along the way. While operating the ice cream store, Mike and Maggie received patents for a portable ice cream sink and fold-down sneezeguard they invented and in 2002 started Magnolia Carts, an ice cream cart manufacturing company, which they sold in 2013.

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