Courtesy of Pie Shop
Beginning at 3 p.m., pie lovers around the city and beyond will be able to publically show their affection for the traditional treat by donating to Pie Shop’s Kickstarter campaign.
Yes 29-year-old Mims Bledsoe is at it again. The great-granddaughter of a fried pie seller in Cumming, Bledsoe scraped together what cash she could and opened the original Pie Shop in a basement of a commercial building off Roswell Road in June of 2011. Here, she sells both sweet and savory pies, ranging from spinach and feta to peanut butter.
Though the space does have a communal table and some chairs, Bledsoe says the ambiance isn’t right for much dine-in traffic—“People are basically in our kitchen!”—and the majority of Pie Shop’s customers order their goodies to go.
The thirty-day Kickstarter campaign aims to solve that by raising funds for a second Pie Shop location, this one focused on creating a comfortable space for the lunch and dessert crowds.
“The idea behind the second location is that it would be the best of both worlds—have a nice atmosphere and street visibility,” she says. “We want to have pedestrian traffic so people can come in and enjoy a slice and a cup of coffee.”
She’s looking into spaces in Virginia-Highland, Inman Park, and Decatur. And while the Krog Street Market and Ponce City Market are not in the running this time around, Bledsoe’s not ruling out opening a market location later. This location, however, is targeted at opening in November.
Those who donate to the Kickstarter will receive “rewards” based on the donation. These include entrance into a B.Y.O.B. all-you-can-eat pie happy hour ($25), attendance at pie-baking classes ($85), a one-year pie-a-month subscription ($240), a grand opening party invitation ($150), private pie dinners ($1,200), and “Pie in the Sky” naming rights with free pie ($5,000).