Meet Lola Forbes and Chris Szydlowski of Spooky’s Swirls in Chandler

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lola Forbes and Chris Szydlowski.

Lola and Chris, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Spooky’s Swirls started out as a home based business and food truck in 2016. As two pastry chefs that have worked in the valley for many years, we saw a need for gluten-free baked goods that looked and tasted incredible. We started out with the Spooky Swirl, a gluten-free classic cinnamon bun with scream cheese frosting. They were a hit! That’s how we came up with our tagline, “doing gluten-free so good it’s scary!”

Having been a collector of screen used movie props for many years, Chris knew James Azrael, a fellow collector. They became friends and noticed many similarities in their collections, so much so that Chris became the West Coast Asst. Head Curator of James Azrael’s non-for-profit screen used movie prop museum the HSPPA.

The three of us wanted to combine all these things we loved into something truly different and special. By adding one more partner, fellow collector Ernesto Avina we were able to put together all the pieces and open Spooky’s Swirls, a horror and sci-fi themed gluten-free bakery with an in store exhibit from the HSPPA.

Has it been a smooth road?
We have been blessed since we opened in July of this year. We didn’t know how people would respond to a concept so out of the norm. We have received overwhelming support from the horror fans as well as from the gluten-free community. Spooky’s Swirls has the BEST customers! That being said, we had to update the game plan in a big way after only a few weeks. We upgraded the kitchen with more power and bigger equipment. Chris left her full-time job ahead of schedule and we hired support staff that have now become part of our Spooky family. We had to shift some gears but after the overwhelming response we are getting used to the joyful chaos!

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Spooky’s Swirls story. Tell us more about the business.
We started out with a gluten-free cinnamon bun that was truly delicious. That alone set us apart from the get go. Now Spooky’s Swirls is known for great gluten-free baked goods, crazy custom cakes, and celebrity signing events. We want coming to Spooky’s Swirls to be an experience; the nostalgia of seeing props from the movies you connect to, as well as the delight from seeing awesome things in the pastry case. These things are creations of art from cake, and it is amazing to see people enjoy these things we love. At the end of the day, that is actually what we are most proud of- making really great food for people…whether they are gluten-free or not.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Every year the sales of gluten-free items are rising. We see the need right in Chandler, and also in the vast distance our customers drive to get to us for delicious baked goods. We intend to stay gluten-free and hope to grow with our customers. We plan to keep pushing the envelope on what is possible with gluten-free cupcakes.

We also see ourselves potentially growing in many other ways. We have already signed up for two major horror/ sci-fi conventions for this summer. We also have another celebrity signing in January with Lisa Wilcox of the Nightmare on Elm Street. We’ve had so much fun doing these special events we can’t wait to see what else is in store!

Contact Info:

• Address: 3029 N Alma School Suite 117
  Chandler, AZ. 85224
• Website: spookysswirls.com
• Phone: 707 776 6597
• Email: spookysswirls@gmail.com
• Instagram: spookys_swirls
• Facebook: @SpookysSwirls

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