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Business & Tech

Newton Couple has a Sweet Idea for Online Marketplace

Fiancees Rebecca Wright and Tim Wagner recently launched weBake.it, an online marketplace that brings artisan goodies to your doorstep.

Ever wish you could get your favorite cupcakes, cookies, chocolates and other goodies delivered right to you or a far-away friend or family member, without ever having to leave the comfort of your home?

Rebecca Wright and Tim Wagner of the new, Newton-based company , can make that happen.

Partnering with a number of local artisans, Wright and Wagner have created a third party online marketplace dedicated to bringing together consumers with artisans who craft fine baked goods and chocolates, with a mind to expanding their offerings as the company takes off.

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And it all started with an idea generated over a Chinese buffet restaurant dinner, discussing possibilities for Wright’s capstone project while they were both still undergraduates at the University of Maine.

“I remember the second it hit us,” recalls Wagner. “We said, ‘This could really be useful. There could be artisans who would really want to do this!’”

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Chimes in Wright, “We talked to Tim’s dad. And he’s a really practical person, but he said ‘This could be really cool, really awesome!’”

Once they had graduated in 2009 and 2010 (Wagner completed his degree in Computer Science a semester before Wright completed hers in New Media), the couple moved to the Boston area and began other jobs.

Wagner initially worked as the first lead engineer for a startup energy management company here in Newton. It was a real “trial by fire,” says Wagner, but he feels the experience helped pave the way for his determination and enthusiasm about weBake.it. He now works as a software consultant but has high hopes of someday focusing on their new venture exclusively.

Wright went to work in a more food-related field: she started out as the catering assistant at the Newton , rapidly moving up the ranks to catering manager and then company administrative assistant within the short span of nine months.

But a number of shifts in the company saw Wright returning to her job as catering manager while maintaining her administrative position, essentially holding down two full-time jobs at once.

It was just too much for the young entrepreneur, and she and her fiancée saw this as an opportunity to make a much-needed change.

“Hey, I said, ‘Why don’t we give this (weBake.it) a shot?’” recalls Wagner. “’But I mean, really give it a shot. Like, why don’t you just quit? And we’ll make it happen.’”

Initially, while Wright was still working for Fresh City, the couple had done a beta test with in Newton Centre (the bakery has since moved to Watertown). But problems with the shipping materials led Wright and Wagner to cease business and “take a break for the summer and put it on the back burner,” says Wagner. 

By fall, with Wright’s responsibilities increasing at Fresh City, the couple was ready to start putting together a new plan. And while they had hoped to be able to ship goodies for Easter 2012, they once again hit a stumbling block in mid-March.

“We were on track to open three weeks before Easter, and then three days before launch, all of a sudden, we got hit with [logistical problems] with UPS,” says Wright. “We kind of got our hearts broken.”

But last week they worked things out, and on April 4 weBake.it was open for virtual business.

At the moment, they are working with eight artisans, selling a variety of treats:

  • Chocolate Therapy
  • Cow & Crumb Baking Co.
  • Gabbie’s Goodies
  • Goodies
  • Treat Cupcakes
  • Vianne Chocolate
  • Whoopie Monster
  • Yummy Mummy Brownies

Very shortly they will be adding a ninth artisan, Lark’s Fine Foods, and are looking forward to sealing the deal with a vegan cookie baker.

If you are wondering about the term “artisan,” as opposed to “manufacturer” or “producer,” Wagner says that it was a very pointed word choice on their part.

“Merchant has a monetary feel to it,” he explains. “Artisan captures the idea that food is an art. Our website is an art, how we present things is an art. And we want to share the stories of our artisans with people, not just sell them their stuff.”

Wright and Wagner apply the same thoughtfulness and passion to the entirety of their fledgling business. If you go to their website, you may be surprised to see a pop-up window asking you for your location. And, according to Wagner, herein lies the main difference between weBake.it and other online ordering services.

“What makes weBake.it really what it is,” states Wagner with excitement, “is that we’re going to design the website in a way that it will present you with what you want to see. The site is going to take all the different artisans and products and put them together for you. It’s essentially a personalized marketplace.”

Wright and Wagner have some even more ambitious plans they hope to enact in the future, but for now they are just happy that weBake.it is bringing together two groups of people they think need to “meet”: the artisans who make the goodies and you, the eager eater.

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