TheraPie collaborates with health-focused salad shop, opens new retail location in downtown Manhattan

Since starting her pie business in 2019, entrepreneur and self-labeled “pie lady”, Tiffany Oppelt has made significant strides in her entrepreneurial journey with the growth of her business, TheraPie, with a recent opening of a retail location in downtown Manhattan. The storefront is an addition to the two other collaborative retail locations in which her pies are sold: Brothers Coffee and Galaxy Girl Coffee, located at Manhattan Town Center mall. 

Learn more about Tiffany’s TheraPie origin story here. 

For the past three years, TheraPie gained rapid traction in the Manhattan community, becoming a unique, local favorite for desserts. “We were to the point where people were Googling ‘best dessert in Manhattan’ and our home bakery address would show up. They would knock on the door and be very confused since it was our home.” says Tiffany.

Tiffany’s pies trace their roots to an old family recipe from her grandmother, Thera. Combined with Tiffany’s personal brand promoting mental health, she created the name, “TheraPie”, along with the corresponding motto and clever play-on words, “Everyone needs a little.” Tiffany’s transparent social media presence about her own entrepreneurial and mental health journeys have cultivated an engaged community that goes beyond dessert, leading to increased opportunities through community partnerships, collaborations, and now, the opening of a storefront.

A number of factors added up to convince Tiffany and her TheraPie team that this was the right time to open the new location. Last fall, Tiffany competed in the Startup MHK Pitch Competition and won the Non-Tech Business Award, along with $10,000 dollars in award money. “Having capital to put down from Startup MHK to acquire adequate funding to launch us into this next phase was key,” says Tiffany.

Funding in hand, the opening of the downtown storefront looked even more achievable. The opportunity to partner and share rent with student-run, Input Salad, a holistic health-focused salad shop, was another step toward the final goal.

Read The Collegian’s story on Input Salad, and get to know owner, Jaetyn Conrad, and her inspiration for the business.

But ultimately, she credits this milestone to her committed team. “Having a team of passionate bakers and pie lovers to help create the systems and processes of running two kitchens and the retail side of things made it possible, and [helped me let up] a little off the white-knuckle-grip I had on controlling everything,” says Tiffany.

The downtown location on 4th Street was no overnight decision. “I’ve been drooling over this for two years,” says Tiffany. Although she did not know how she would pull it off, she was determined to secure the storefront. “The owner of this building, said, ‘Why don’t you just give her the building? She just keeps coming back,” says Tiffany during the ribbon-cutting of her new location. 

As a local entrepreneur, Tiffany has been committed to supporting other businesses and establishing collaborations. “The list of collabs and supporters is continuously growing.” Tiffany continues, “As we were creating our storefront, we wanted to be able to pull in as much ‘local’ as possible.” Check out the list of TheraPie’s friends, partners and collaborators below.

Tiffany is determined to continue TheraPie’s growth by nurturing her business’ values and providing more than just excellent pie to her customers. “We want to be known as a kind and inviting space that supports overall health. We believe that overall wellness includes mental, physical, nutritional, and emotional health and we believe that ‘a happy heart is healthy,’ and that won’t look the same for everyone.”

Growing not only her business but also her team members is a value for Tiffany, and she looks for ways to help them build leadership skills and create pathways for growth. “As we continue to grow and our team continues to develop along their career paths, the plan might include opening additional locations in other towns or states.”

She adds, “For now, we’re just really excited to be here.” 

Check out the new TheraPie shop, shared with Input Salad, at 106 S. 4th Street, just south of Gaia Salon, in downtown Manhattan.

A true collaborator, TheraPie Gives a Shout-out to The Growing list of TheraPie’s numerous partners and supporters: 

• MHK Made – created TheraPie’s menu board, cups, mugs 

• Two Loves Embroidery – created TheraPie’s Aprons 

• Poppy Tees – created T-shirts 

• Switch Wicked – created T-shirts 

• Fragrant Blend Candle Co – created a custom therapy candle 

• Tre’s Squeeze – the best lemonade in town in a variety of flavors 

• Galaxy Girl Coffee – a custom roast exclusively for our menu and the roaster of our Decaf blend 

• Mental and Material Art – commissioned art work 

• Lou Stine Art – commissioned art work 

• Kathy Hyneck – finishing the punch list repairs 

• Russell Webster – HVAC repairs 

• Sunflower Restaurant Supply (Salina) – supplied all TheraPie’s equipment 

• Super Club – created custom stickers 

• Jill Carter (Tiffany’s mother) – in helping bring the front of the house vision to life with shopping, manual labor and inventory 

• Heather Hnizdil – painting TheraPie’s logos behind the counter 

• Hoja – provided some of the plant babies 

• Marc Kent – cuttings and provided plant babies 

• Thomas Outdoor Signs – created graphics/signage 

• Women in Business Lunch Bunch/Book Clubs – constantly providing support 

• Women in Entrepreneurship – supporting Tiffany and her business 

• Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce and Spark – providing resources and support 

• Support from the entire Manhattan Community!