The SugarBot Story
Jackie Huebbe worked in the corporate world after graduating with a degree in Graphic Communications, and never quite fit. In 2007, she began blowing off steam from her daily grind by baking various creations in her home kitchen nightly. Before long, she’d made a name for herself in the corporate world - not for the monotonous work she did there, but instead for the treats she’d bring in and share among her favorite colleagues.
By 2009, Jackie started attending culinary school in the evenings, and she’d begun taking custom order requests for friends, family, and coworkers to bring to small gatherings and meetings while working weekends at an area bakery/cafe. In 2010, she wished her former colleagues well and made the jump from the corporate world into the world of baking and pastry. After working a combined 7 days a week, while holding positions at multiple places for a few years running, she decided it was time to take the next step.
In 2012, SugarBot Sweet Shop was started with a KitchenAid mixer and a goal to do things the right way: no more being forced to use artificial vanilla, bag and box mixes, shortcuts, and low quality ingredients. With that path in mind, the core foundation was set: SugarBot would be the place to get “Childhood favorites, better than you remember them.” Commercial kitchen space was rented, clients were built, and SugarBot had expanded into a shared storefront in Webster Groves, MO. In 2014, SugarBot bought The Very Best Cookies (est 1988 in Webster Groves, MO) and expanded the storefront to offer a full service selection of baked goods. It was at that point that Mark Huebbe, Jackie’s husband, jumped into the mix.
In May of 2015, SugarBot expanded, and purchased a building in Old Town St. Charles to build our permanent storefront. The building was neglected and collapsing inward, but after hundreds of hours of planning, demolition, cleaning, reconstruction, cleaning, and organizing, our permanent bakery home opened in November of that year, and we haven’t looked back since.
In 2018, Jackie & Mark acquired “Little O’s Old Time Soda Fountain” on North Main. After the purchase, the storefront was renovated to fit in with the historical nature of the street - bringing in an original, functioning stainless steel soda fountain, as well as many other historical touches.
In 2020, SugarBot was on the move again - expanding the soda shop by purchasing the shop’s permanent home at 302 N Main Street, just 1 block North of the original location. The soda shop was rebranded as “SugarBot Creamery, Home of Little O’s Old Time Soda Fountain.” The space features all the upgraded details from the smaller shop, plus a wide variety of handmade confections, nostalgic candy, and even more scratch-made ice cream flavors - all made right in house. You can find more details on SugarBot Creamery here.
About Mark
Mark is a civil engineer by day, and a builder of all things by night. He is known in the rally racing community for driving his 1970 VW Rally Bug, and in the experimental aviation community as a sport pilot (having built a Sonnex and a Vans RV12), and as a Homebuilt Aircraft Judge every year at AirVenture in Oshkosh, WI. Mark’s handiwork can be seen all around the SugarBot Sweet Shop & Creamery storefronts, and his passion for historical woodworking has transformed both spaces into the cozy settings they are today.
About Jackie
Jackie has been passionate about baking for as long as she can remember. She spends her free time snuggling her rescue dogs, hanging out with her two adorable nephews, reading, and knitting among many other hobby collections, including rock climbing, riding bikes, learning to fly, restoring vintage fountain pens, wheel pottery, and the list goes on...
