SugarWitch Cupcakes opens online cottage-food bakery in Eugene, focusing on community

Ashley Barnes has brought SugarWitch Cupcakes to Eugene as a cottage food business operating entirely online, advertising 49 flavor options and taking orders in early February. The shop’s Facebook announcement posted January 23 at 11:26 AM declared, “Sugarwitch Cupcakes is officially opening February 1st, 2026” and “Orders begin February 1st,” while a Register‑Guard profile published Feb. 15 reported Barnes “started taking orders for cupcakes on Feb. 3.”

Barnes’ menu is large by neighborhood-bakery standards: Register‑Guard reported “Barnes has 49 cupcake flavors on her menu, ranging from pumpkin pie to pancake stack.” For the first week she produced maple bacon, peanut butter cup, berry vanilla, and German chocolate cupcakes, and she plans “having four flavors a week available for customers to order for pick up or delivery from her cottage food business,” the article said. Facebook copy markets the goods as “handcrafted, gourmet cupcakes” with “creamy buttercream frosting, moist cupcake bases, and pops of seasonal flavor.”

The business model is explicitly online. Register‑Guard wrote, “A new cupcake shop recently opened in Eugene, serving 49 fun flavor options. But, you won't see it when you're driving around. Ashley Barnes, owner of SugarWitch Cupcakes, opened her storefront entirely online.” The profile notes customers can message the business on Facebook and Instagram to place orders; the Facebook post also asks followers to “Check out our flyers below for pricing, flavors, and ordering info.”

Barnes framed the move from engineering to baking as personal and practical. She told the Register‑Guard, “I said I would think about it,” she said. “And then I catered three dozen cupcakes for my brother's wedding, and I was like, 'OK, I could do this.'” She added, “I was in engineering before, so this is way different than that,” and said she prefers “looking at smiling faces than the insides of buildings all the time.”

Community response on social media shows early local interest: the Facebook opening post displayed 41 reactions, 10 comments, and 17 shares. Neighbors asked operational questions by name, with Shirley Rogers asking, “Are these pick‑up only?” and Alisha Clairmont writing, “Do you allow variety boxes to sample multiple flavors? Also, will you have a walk in store front or just online orders only?” Kissy S Hernandez requested “Pricing please,” while Christie Sanders posted “Yay congratulations” and Taylor Conklin said, “Oh I’ll definitely be there can’t resist sweets.” The post included outreach language, “Eugene, OR, your cupcake cravings are about to be magically satisfied,” and hashtags such as #SugarwitchCupcakes and #SupportLocal.

The early-February rollout, documented both in the business’s Jan. 23 Facebook post and in the Register‑Guard’s Feb. 15 coverage, leaves a small timing discrepancy between the announced Feb. 1 opening and the Feb. 3 date the newspaper reported orders began. For now, SugarWitch is positioned as an online, community-focused option for individual treats and larger catering requests in Eugene, with ordering routed through social platforms and weekly flavor rotations advertised to keep offerings fresh.