Meet Julie Mercer of Sonsons Pasty Company in Mesa

Today we’d like to introduce you to Julie Mercer.

Julie, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was born in Cornwall England where I lived until moving to the USA when I was 32. In Cornwall, I worked in a very popular bakery for eight years where I learned to make the Cornish pasty. When I moved to American I worked as a retail manager for 18 years until the company restructured its management team in 2018. I consider myself extremely fortunate to be able to choose a severance pay from the company which enabled me to follow my dreams of opening my pasty shop here in Arizona.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Opening a new business, with a fairly unknown product has had its challenges. I started introducing people to pasties through farmer’s markets which I would attend three or four times a week. I received some great feedback and started to build a loyal customer base. After a few months of working farmer’s markets, I decided to take the plunge and open a storefront here in Mesa.

Opening a storefront is so exciting, but it also brings a big increase in expenses, which means you have to increase sales. It’s not a case of building it and they will come, you can’t just open the door and expect people to keep you busy. Every day I have to think of new ways to increase sales, which include catering for corporate events throughout the valley, delivering to customers and soon shipping to customers throughout the United States.

I have been very fortunate to be able to build a small team of employees who consistently help improve our company and we work together to continue to drive sales and provide the best customer service.

Tell us about your company. What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of as a company? What sets you apart from others?
We make authentic Cornish pasties, a traditional hand held “pie” made with steak, potato, onion, rutabaga, wrapped in a delicious hand made the pastry. The Pasty has a long history, as far back as the 1300’s Traditionally the pasty was made for miners to take down the mines to eat for their lunch when miners immigrated to American the pasty tradition came with them becoming a famous meal in the upper peninsula. Basically, if you come across a mine you will hear the history of the pasty.

As a company, we are very proud of our pasties and our history. Quality of our product and making sure our customers enjoy their experience is our number one priority.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I’m proud of so many things since starting Sonsons, from working the farmer’s markets in 110 degrees through the summer months to opening our shop front to the continued growth and I’m always happy when our customers leave happy and keep returning.

Pricing:

• Pasties starting from $8
• Sausage rolls $3.50
• Fruit desserts starting from $2

Contact Info:

• Address: 6060 E Brown road suite 101
  Mesa, AZ 85205
• Website: Sonsonspastyco.com
• Phone: 4808458485
• Email: sonsons@mail.com
• Instagram: @sonsonspastyco
• Facebook: Sonsons Pasty co

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