M is for Melody, Macarons, Moms and Malls

To say that Melody Davis has a “sweet” job would be true. However, the journey to get there required a little dough. Melody Davis owns Melody’s Macarons, a gourmet bakery store that offers French-style baked products such as macarons, cookies, cupcakes, and cakes in Lufkin, Texas.

Melody’s Macarons has been in business since 2021. After receiving a degree in Business Communications, Melody started working as a Property Manager for a leasing company.

Like many people, Melody watches cooking shows. While watching one of the shows she found herself intrigued by an episode about making macarons, and thought the process looked easy and fun. “I started looking at how to make them at home,” Melody said. She ended up enjoying the process and started making them for her kids. She got so good at her new hobby that she would make them for school events, holidays, and parties. Before long, her new creations became the subject of conversations among friends, family, and co-workers. She was often asked if she would sell the macarons, everyone was beginning to love.

Since she had a full-time job, Melody always had to explain that she did not have the time; she only made sweets for her kids. Before long, Melody started thinking and conversing with her mother about selling her product to the public. Her mother’s response is what gave Melody the motivation to start Melody’s Macarons.

“My mother stated there is no way that people will pay two dollars for a cookie, and I said, okay, let’s see,” Melody explained, laughing.

It was close to Valentine’s Day 2021, Melody took a few orders, and the idea blew up quickly. She started getting many requests. Her little bet with her mom turned into an overnight full-time job. Melody started selling her macarons at the local farmer’s market and spending all her free time on her new craft.

In May, she quit her job as the project manager and started making, and selling macarons full-time. She eventually started running out of space in her home and in November, she opened up a bakery in the local mall. Things were going great and she was selling her product and enjoying her success. However, she started realizing that the foot traffic inside the mall was not what it once was. She needed a plan if she was going to succeed in the future.

Melody started researching other places to sell her product. She contacted another mall but was told no because a competitor already sold their product there. She eventually contacted the Grapevine Mills Mall and was offered a great location to sell her product. This mall is one of the busiest malls in the state of Texas, and the increase in foot traffic should provide Melody with a more robust atmosphere for her future success. However, this meant that Melody and her family would have to move. A bigger location with more customers also meant she would need money for a business expansion. She was not sure exactly how she and her husband would make it work.

Melody started researching loan companies and reached out to PeopleFund, a company that provides small businesses, non-profits, and start-ups funding. They were willing to work with Melody, but they also referred her to Communities Unlimited (CU) as well. Melody contacted CU and started working with CU’s Small Business Lender, Chris Ranniger.

Chris assisted Melody on her loan paperwork, and she closed on her CU loan in July 2023. Since then, Melody and her husband, Chris, have been busy trying to get the new location ready to open. They are in the middle of hiring new staff, ordering products, cleaning, and everything that goes into opening up a bakery.

Melody is excited about her expansion and is ready for the future of Melody’s Macarons. She believes that the key to her success is the freshness of her product along with her recipes. She is grateful to CU for helping her with the loan. Even though her second location has only recently opened, Melody is happy about the next steps and even happier that she was able to prove her mother wrong.