Help Build Codetta Bake Shop!

Hey y'all! My name is Sumayyah (Mya) Bilal and I'm the owner of Codetta Bake Shop, a premium desserts bakery based in Downtown Baltimore, MD. In 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, I left my full-time music teaching career to grow my home-based desserts bakery. Since then we've moved to (and outgrown) different shared kitchen spaces. We currently operate a ghost-kitchen concept in Federal Hill, where my small-but-mighty team bakes specialty cheesecakes, cupcakes, wedding cakes, ice cream, and MORE all from scratch and using ingredients of the highest quality!

Codetta Bake Shop has always had a firm commitment to growth and community engagement. Our team culture here is fun and inclusive, and we focus on constantly educating one another to help care for our customers in the best ways possible. In addition to this, we often host or collaborate on events to highlight and support other entrepreneurs and community partners in THEIR endeavors! We also make it a priority to donate regularly to non-profit organizations and local schools.

We've been SO blessed to have been able to grow up until this point, and now we're bursting at the seams in our current location. On in September 2023, we signed a lease for the space of my dreams that will allow us to expand production to include a sit-down eatery cafe that will serve breakfast and lunch during the week and all day brunch on the weekends. Codetta Bake Shop will ALSO be a performance venue & cultural hub for the community, featuring a stage for musical performances, pop-up space and retail shelving to feature other local makers, gallery space for local & touring visual artists, and flexible event space for kids/community classes and workshops!

Our new space will also allow us to increase production and offer nationwide shipping, as well as expand our wholesale offerings to cater to the needs of other local restaurants and venues.

Now you're probably thinking, "This is great! But why are you raising money on GoFundMe instead of taking out a business loan or something?" Well, I'm delighted you asked! As a practicing Muslim, I try my very best to adhere to the Islamic principle of avoiding "riba", or interest. As of now Codetta Bake Shop has been able to scale with ZERO debt, and we'd like to continue scaling without acquiring interest-bearing debt if at all possible. I've watched in dismay as other business owners get swept away financially because of not having the means to repay capital loans they've taken out to start their business. And since my ultimate goal is for Codetta Bake Shop to be a means for generational wealth for my family & community, I don't want to pass on a burden to future entrepreneurs.

SO....let's get down brass tacks! Here's the breakdown of renovation costs for the space (provided by our contractor):

Codetta Bake Shop Assumptions:

Total Estimate of Renovation Expenses: $1,020,000

Total Estimate of Tenant Expenses: $720,000

As you can see, this is a HUGE project! Yes, this is over a million dollars in renovations coming to this 5,200 square-foot space - And when it's completed it will be like nothing you've ever seen before!

BUT...we need your help!

We have been aggressively applying to grants for the last two years and we have been awarded SOME of the necessary funds, but we still have a significant gap. Your generous donation will not only help us to provide this space for the Baltimore community, but once we open you'll ALSO receive the following as a token of our undying appreciation:

Donor Deliverables

Of course, any amount helps and no donation is too small - And if you're unable to donate, you can also help by SHARING our campaign with your network to spread the word!

Follow us on social media for campaign updates, including client and team testimonials, and design progress:

IG - @CodettaBakeShop

FB - /CodettaBakeShop

TikTok - @CodettaBakeShop

THANK YOU thank you thank you so much for your support, and we can't wait to serve you in the shop!!!

All the best,

Mya & the Codetta Bake Shop Team