For new dessert shop, the ‘proof is in the pudding’
Bria Walls is the owner of Elise Dessert Co. at 3536 Walker Ave. in the University District. Banana pudding, which is her specialty, is also offered in area groceries. (Courtesy Elise Dessert Co.)
It all started with banana pudding.
Bria Walls made some for her husband, and he told her it was so good that she should sell it to people.
“And that’s what I did,” she said.
Today, Bria Walls’ enterprise, Elise Dessert Co., sells five flavors of banana pudding in several local grocery stores, and the company is hosting the grand opening of its retail store Sunday, July 2, from 2 to 5 p.m. at 3536 Walker Ave.
Walls currently sells about a thousand 8-ounce containers of banana pudding each week through Kroger, Cordelia’s Market, DoorDash, High Point Grocery and South Point Grocery.
A graduate of Central High School, LeMoyne-Owen College and Tennessee State University, Walls said she comes from a long line of entrepreneurs. Her father has had his own construction company for about 50 years, and other members of her family have also run their own companies.
“So, it’s definitely in my blood,” Walls said.
After Walls began her business in 2020, another entrepreneur suggested she sell through Cordelia’s Market. The Harbor Town grocer was her first large client. Now the products have been sold in local Kroger stores for almost a year.
But her goal with the business has always been to have her own storefront. Given the location near the University of Memphis, where 901 Scoop used to be, Walls thinks Elise Dessert Co. will become a gathering place, particularly for college students.
“This is a prime location,” she said. “You have the traffic, and it’s in the middle of the city.”
The store is about 1,200 square feet, and Walls plans to employ her parents and two others. Customers will be able to buy banana pudding, cinnamon rolls, and slices of key lime pies and pound cakes.
Elise Dessert Co. banana pudding is available in a variety of flavors: Banana, strawberry banana, caramel banana, cookie, and cookies and cream. (Courtesy Elise Dessert Co.)
Walls said she uses only fresh, high-quality ingredients and works to keep her products creamy, smooth and not too sweet. Her five banana pudding flavors are: banana, strawberry banana, caramel banana, cookie, and cookies and cream.
“Our focal point is banana pudding. That’s what we’re known for,” she said. “Where else can you buy banana pudding from a store that tastes really good?”
In fact, people who have liked her products have told her, “the proof is in the pudding,” and she’s adopted that for her website.
Walls’ original recipe came from her mother, but the name of her company comes from her middle name Elise. Historically, the name is a shortened form of Elizabeth and can be traced back to mean “My God is abundance.”
That isn’t a coincidence for Walls.
“God has shown himself many times. Pretty much from the jump, I’ve not had what I needed. God has always provided for me,” she said. “To be a young, African-American business owner, I had to have capital. Everything I’ve done, God has always provided a way.”
And what does her husband, Jeremy, think of all this since he first mentioned the idea?
“I think he’s amazed that God took something small and simple and grew it up into a big-time business,” Walls said.
Elise Dessert Co. is located at 3536 Walker Ave. For more information, call 901-422-3723.
Topics
Elise Dessert Co. University District Bria Walls Banana Pudding dessertMatthew Fite
Matthew Fite is a native Memphian and a graduate of the journalism school at The University of Memphis. He has worked at The Commercial Appeal, as a contract employee at FedEx and as a teacher of English as a Second Language. He and his wife have three children and a rescue dog.
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