"Israelis love extravagance. You see it in every field—cars, fashion, food. They love over-the-top things, and no less, they love sharing them on social media. Our desserts cater to this ‘extravagance’—both in terms of their sweet taste and their appearance," says Shy Yuchelman, CEO and co-owner of Sweet Box – American Bake Shop, a boutique bakery that recently opened its flagship store at the new Big Fashion shopping complex in Glilot.
Yuchelman describes the brand as one that specializes in exaggeratedly sweet desserts, following the classic American kitchen tradition that spares no sugar or calories. So far, he is very pleased with the public response and the foot traffic at the new shopping complex, which attracted about 70,000 visitors on March 1, the first Saturday it was open. "So far, both in terms of the foot traffic in the complex itself and in terms of customers visiting the bakery and sales volume, it has exceeded expectations," he says. "Of course, we understand that a large part of the rush is due to people wanting to see the new wonder that Big has created. I hope the crowd remains steady in the future."
Not an Expert in Flour and Sugar
Yuchelman, 55, only recently ventured into the bakery business. Previously, he spent many years as a talent manager and producer. His career in entertainment began after his military service, working alongside Avraham Deshe (Pashanel) to produce shows for Yossi Banai and the comedy group Hagashash Hahiver. Later, he co-owned Yuchelman Asher Productions, which produced Festigal performances, various TV series and plays, and represented many artists, including Eli Finish, Mariano Idelman, and Eli Yatzpan. In 2019, Yuchelman sold his share of the company to his partner, Yakir Asher, and retired from the entertainment industry.
"I really loved the entertainment business. It was a field that gave me a lot of satisfaction and a good livelihood," he shares. "Deciding to retire was a long process, which included a mix of personal fulfillment and many personal matters (I went through two divorces). Many things happened in my life that made me want to change direction, take early retirement, and do a sort of reset—a fresh start. I don’t look back in anger; I enjoy reflecting on the beautiful moments. I still have many friends in the entertainment world. I was in the industry for about 28 years. I just decided that I had enough."
His current career is entirely different from his previous one.
"A mutual friend introduced me to Michael Tenenbaum, who founded Sweet Box in 2016 as an online business. Back then, there was no physical sales point—just a bakery and a small coffee counter on Hachalutzim Street in Tel Aviv. At that time, the business had not yet gained traction or recognition. I really loved the product and the pastries, and I offered Michael to collaborate so I could use my experience in marketing and branding. I saw the potential and challenge in this brand, and I entered primarily for that challenge—taking something from zero in a field completely unrelated to me. On January 1, 2019, I joined the business with the goal of making the products accessible to as wide an audience as possible."
A good marketer, Yuchelman claims, can market anything in any industry. "This business didn’t turn me into a baking expert, so don’t ask me about flour or sugar. In my previous field, I was an expert in everything. Here, I bring my marketing expertise, particularly in positioning and branding—how the brand looks, how the packaging and stores appear. Michael remains more on the operational side of the bakery. He’s excellent at that and a great partner."
Crazy Reactions from Customers
According to Yuchelman, the business had its big breakthrough during the COVID-19 pandemic. "While other businesses were just figuring out how to adapt to this strange period and transition online, we were already well-prepared and working strongly in e-commerce, with a delivery system focused on gift boxes. We also partnered with Wolt, allowing customers to order not just gift boxes through the website but also individual products in central Tel Aviv. COVID-19 only strengthened us. The growth in online sales was so massive that we had to expand our kitchen. After the pandemic, we started considering physical retail locations."
This move was the opposite of what most businesses were doing at the time.
"We identified demand directly from customers. Toward the end of the pandemic, we ran a test: We opened a pop-up store at Tel Aviv Port. The reactions were insane—people said, ‘Finally, we can buy from you.’ The original plan was to operate the pop-up for a month, but we stayed for four. That’s when we realized we had to establish at least one physical store in the Tel Aviv area. About two and a half years ago, we finalized our agreement with Big, intending to make it our first store. But suddenly, the best spot in Levinsky Market became available, and we just couldn’t refuse. So we took a small location there, which ended up opening eight months before the Big Fashion branch."
"In hindsight, it was a smart move for us because it allowed us to experience all the complexities of running a retail store. We were much more prepared when launching the flagship store at Big, where we invested a NIS 1M. Once we realized we were opening two branches simultaneously, another partner, Sagi Ashkevitz, joined us."
Sweet Box’s head pastry chef is Maayan Yifat, while the Big Fashion Glilot branch is managed by pastry chef Liron Shamiya. Baking is done both at the original bakery on Hachalutzim Street and at the new store, which offers Sweet Box’s best-selling products, including massive Monster Cookies (150g each, priced at NIS 18-20) with various toppings like triple chocolate, pistachio, red velvet, chocolate chips, white chocolate, and more; Crack Pie (NIS 39); and mini cupcakes with a variety of toppings, flavors, and fillings (NIS 8).
Other highlights include brownies with different fillings, classic New York cheesecake, Oreo cheesecake, sweet yeast pastries (cinnamon rolls, sticky buns, chocolate babka), extravagant multi-layered cream cakes, classic pound cakes (chocolate marble, New York crumble), chocolate truffles, Sneaky Bars, banana pudding, and more. The bakery also offers gift boxes and seasonal specials. There are some vegan options (banana maple muffins, chocolate hazelnut muffins, Monster Cookies, granola brownies), but no gluten-free options at the moment, as Yuchelman explains, "The bakery just isn’t big enough to set up a completely gluten-free production line."
"We Didn’t Raise Prices"
Despite the brand's "extravagance" theme, there are limits. "We constantly experiment, and some products haven’t worked out," Yuchelman admits. "We once had a stuffed cookie even bigger than the Monster Cookie. Our die-hard fans loved it, but only them—it wasn’t worth producing on a large scale. It was just too much. A person couldn’t finish such a portion. But we always keep experimenting."
How would you define your target audience?
"People who love life. We’re about fun—enjoying coffee with a sweet treat. Our bakery appeals to all dessert lovers and those seeking something over-the-top."
As for pricing, he adds, "Our prices are affordable. We fought hard to avoid raising them, even as raw material costs skyrocketed."
Who are your competitors?
“Some would say that every bakery in the country is essentially our competitor, but I think we have uniqueness in our very wide and precise range that meets the definition of an American-style pastry shop. We combine the sweet flavors of New York with Israel."
The products in the new location are identical to those sold at the Levinsky market, but according to Yuchelman, “There is a difference in what people buy at the two places. Levinsky market is very busy on Thursdays and Fridays, and there is a big demand for whole cakes for Shabbat and yeast or bundt cakes. In the Big complex, I discovered that most people buy for the 'here and now'. It's a lot more impulsive buying, eating the pastry right away. It's likely that at Big, mostly personal-sized products are sold, not the larger ones, because it's more of a leisure activity. It could change over time, but it’s still hard to make a statistic.”
There’s a lot of talk about opening the complex on Shabbat. What do you think about it?
“Fridays and Saturdays are very strong days. From what I’ve seen so far, most of the stores in the complex were open on Shabbat. Our rationale for opening on Shabbat was purely economic. The market, supply, and demand dictate business decisions. Our bakery on Hachalutzim Street in Tel Aviv is kosher. The Levinsky branch is also kosher and not open on Shabbat. The products are the same at Big, but the Big store cannot receive kosher certification because it’s open on Shabbat. We think part of our audience will enjoy the kosher store in Levinsky, and others will enjoy the store open on Shabbat. Our online store remains kosher.”
Flowers are so last season
On the brand's website, sweet gift boxes in blue boxes with a variety of products are sold, priced between NIS 170-430. On the website, one encounters the slogan “Flowers are so last season, the perfect gift is fresh and sweet pastries in a perfect package.”
“We were once taught that when there’s a birthday or a baby is born, you send a bouquet of flowers and say ‘Mazel Tov.’ Also in business, when there’s a launch, you send a bouquet of flowers,” says Yuchelman. “But I said: Let’s build a new gift, sweet things that are baked on the same day, packaged in a very thoughtful gift box, and with a very fun opening experience. This contributed a lot to us on social media. Beyond the product itself, people loved the opening, the fact that inside the big box there were smaller boxes hidden, like a nesting doll. This makes the product viral.”
According to Yuchelman, he works in cooperation with many business companies. “We work with companies in two ways. In many places, mostly in high-tech, they have a weekly happy hour and order our products. Also, for large companies, with 200-300 employees, we provide a solution for employees’ birthdays. We save HR managers a headache. They send me an Excel file with all the employees’ birthday dates, and for them, it’s a ‘set and forget’ solution. I take the responsibility of sending the employees gifts – our sweet boxes with a company greeting card. All shipping data enters a computerized system I built. There’s also a monitoring and control system for that.”
How did the war affect the business?
“First of all, on a personal level, I was in reserves. I’ve volunteered for many years, and I’m still doing so. In the first months of the war, the activity almost stopped. Some of the workers were drafted into reserves, and with the mood at the time, who would think of buying sweets? We continued to produce at the same volume and donate products to soldiers, bases, and the hostage headquarters. Then the work started to come back, and orders for gifts for the injured began to arrive. Companies also started sending gift boxes to families where the husband or wife of employees were in reserves. Our activity started to rise again and return to normal levels.”
What are the plans for the future?
“I’m a person who always looks ahead. I have the desire to progress, not to stand still. Our product is very unique. It’s handmade baking, very homemade, not industrial, without preservatives. So every new store opening is a much bigger challenge behind the scenes, in production, than in the front. We want to grow and open additional branches, but we’ll need to do it slowly and carefully, so we don’t harm the quality of the product, which is above all, and is the secret of our success. As mentioned, we’ve been working with Wolt for some time. With the opening of the new branch, the radius of the areas where our products can be delivered will also expand. For example, Arsuf, Rishpon, Kfar Shmaryahu, Herzliya, Ramat Hasharon, and more.”
By the way, are you yourself a fan of sweets?
“I’m mainly a chocolate fan. I take very specific items from the bakery. This helps me somehow keep an eye on myself here.”