Downtown St. Petersburg will soon be without (swah-rey) mini cupcakes, artisan marshmallows, and thick cake slices when both Central Avenue locations of the boutique bakery close their doors next month.

Yesterday via Facebook, owner Leslie Ciccone shared with dismayed customers that her and husband/business partner Greg are packing up and moving back to San Diego. Leslie advance her career with the Federal Aviation Administration there—a job she’s had since 1991.

The news broke online when a customer shared their shock with the I Love St. Pete Facebook group, after an employee told her about the imminent closure. Leslie commented on the post, “yes, the closing is true. My government job is transferring me.”

There’s no exact closure date set in stone, but Leslie mentioned online that both locations— at 625 and 2105 Central Ave.—are taking full cake orders through Nov. 7.

Less than two years ago, Leslie and Greg started planning on opening two new (swah-rey) locations.

The bakery and dessert bar opened its first location in 2015 and second in 2018, and is best known for various flavors of mini cupcakes, cake slices—especially the double chocolate blackout cake—cream pies, candied pretzels and much more. Indulge your sweet tooth before the artisan bakery closes its doors permanently next month.

According to the TBBJ, Ciccone and her husband plan to return back to St. Pete once her assignment on the west coast is finished, so maybe one day the couple will serve sweet treats to the Tampa Bay area once again.

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