Kalamazoo teen opens downtown storefront during COVID-19 pandemic
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Layla Wallace, 15, has owned Layla's Cool Pops for around four years and isn't letting a global pandemic keep her from opening a storefront in downtown Kalamazoo.
Wallace owns Layla's Cool Pops, which sells homemade cupcakes, brownies, cake pops and other treats. Beginning Friday, May 22, 2020, Layla's Cool Pops will hold a weekly curbside delivery for the foreseeable future.
"We take pre-orders on Monday's and Tuesdays, and then we have Friday deliveries, where folks can just drive up to the curb, we're going to have curbside pickup," Luchara Wallace, Layla's mom, said.
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Layla said she was very proud of the hard work she put into opening a store. She also said that being business owner her ages does comes with some challenges.
"I think that some people think that would work ethic would be different because I'm younger, so I have to prove them wrong by working really working hard," Layla said. "I still get scared to talking with people, so I'm warming up to talking with people and I still do school so it's kinda hard."
Layla's mom said that they worked to get the store front to help Layla achieve her vision.
"She said, 'Mom, I want to be able to teach young other children my age how to be entrepreneurs, how to bake, how to have what I have,'" Luchara Wallace said.
The deadline to order for curbside pickup at Layla's Cool Pops is midnight Wednesday.
Order online or on the Layla's Cool Pops Facebook page.
Editor's note: This article was updated from its original posting to correct the spelling of mom's first name.
