Owners of new Manlius pastry shop bake up, live out dream of business ownership

MANLIUS, N.Y. — Manlius just got a bit sweeter when it welcomed Murphy’s Specialized Pastry LLC in a formal grand opening in January.

Colleen Guynup and Sean Murphy, owners of the new bakery located in the Limestone Commons Plaza, grew up in Syracuse and previously worked together at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona. They left Turning Stone in 2013 to start their own business where they could create their own desserts.

“It’s the American dream, it really is. To be your own boss and have the freedoms to do what you want to do, produce what you want to produce. It’s not really the freedom to make your own hours because you’re always here but…,” says Murphy.

The process was not an easy one. Guynup and Murphy worked hard to get to where they are today.

“We also did a lot of background work together. We read books, did research on the Internet, talked to local businesses just to get info on what we needed and how to get started. We got a business advisor, so they helped us get started. If we needed more guidance, they helped us,” says Guynup.

The town of Manlius was an ideal location, they say, because there is only one other bakery in the area. However, large grocery stores like Tops and Wegmans will always be their biggest competitors.

“It’s cause it’s convenient, it’s easy, it’s there, it’s cheap, so … getting people away from that and to just make one more stop before they go home, is a big competition for us,” says Guynup.

Now after becoming small-business owners themselves, Guynup and Murphy say they are in full support of other small businesses.

“This strip mall here is just stacked full of small businesses. Besides the Dollar Tree, which is a chain store, everything else is small business. And people in Manlius love supporting small business, which we really appreciate,” says Murphy.

As business owners, one key way they promote their store’s products is through social media.

“We have a Facebook page and honestly that’s our best source of advertisement because we can post a picture and people will come in and be like ‘oh, I saw this on your picture and wanted to give it a try,’” says Guynup.

Murphy’s Specialized Pastry, located at 240 West Seneca St. in Manlius, first opened to customers in December.

After just a few short, busy, and rather cold months of being open, Guynup and Murphy are very happy with their success so far.

“Having customers be able to come in and eat something and then see the look of joy on their face when they just ate something delicious is pretty rocking,” quips Murphy.