Here’s the cool story of how Peach Cobbler Factory landed in Canton
Canton’s Peach Cobbler Factory franchise, owned and operated by Mary and Tony Burton, is the first in Michigan.
As the amazing aroma of palate-pleasing desserts floated through the air around her on a recent Saturday morning, Mary Burton recalled the days when her mother would lovingly bake peach cobbler before delivering it to a local farmers market to sell.
“She’d peel the peaches, make everything from scratch,” Burton said, with a heart-warming vibe in her voice. “She’d bake pies, cinnamon rolls — everything from scratch. That’s my earliest connection to this place.”
This place is Canton’s The Peach Cobbler Factory, a first-in-Michigan national franchise operated by the Burton family — Mary, husband Tony; and children Arielle, Zoe, Carmen and Daylen.
The Burton family’s first official entrepreneurial venture opened in late-September at 7237 Canton Center Road.
Abundant variety of unique desserts
In addition to a variety of 12 cobblers served with vanilla ice cream, The Peach Cobbler Factory offers banana puddings, sweet cinnamon rolls, Pudd-N Shakes, cookies, Churro Stix, Belgian Waffles — and the list of satisfying comfort food items (and teas and coffee) goes on and on.
“I was here every day during the build out,” said Tony Burton, “and every day people would knock at the door, asking me when we were going to open. The anticipation was amazing. They couldn’t wait.
“We decided to hold a four-hour soft opening the first day we opened (Sept. 28) — we didn’t promote it on social media or anything because we wanted to make sure we had all the kinks worked out. But we were absolutely bombarded with people, some of whom were the ones who stopped by to find out when we were opening.”
Tony laughed heartily at the memory of the successful launch.
Brisk business
Business has remained strong and steady, Mary added.
“We’re the first Peach Cobbler Factory franchise in Michigan, so we’ve had people drive here from as far away as Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Flint,” she said.
“When people would tell us the distances they drove, our jaws dropped. That’s one reason we never want to run out of peach cobbler because you never know how far somebody drove to try our product.”
The Burtons, who reside in Ypsilanti Township, said the response from local residents has been off-the-charts positive.
“Once we purchased the franchise and were looking for a location for our first store, we did a thorough market analysis of southeast Michigan and Canton came up as the place to open,” she said. “We love Canton’s diversity; we serve people from all walks of life.
The wait is over
“I can’t tell you how many people walk in and tell us they’ve been waiting for a place like ours to open. It’s been very exciting.”
Not surprisingly, customers’ go-to menu item is the peach cobbler.
“By far,” Mary confirmed, chuckling. “But we offer a pretty expansive menu, so there’s something for everybody.”
If there has been a top-selling surprise menu item, Tony Burton said it would have to be the Churro Stix.
“The only small drawback with Churro Stix is they’re made-to-order, so there’s usually a 15-minute wait,” he said. “We encourage people to download our app, that way they can place their order and it will be ready by the time they arrive to pick it up.”
Zoe’s idea
The Burtons have carved out compelling professional backgrounds.
Mary is a director for the Superior Township Water Department. Tony, who devotes all of his working time to The Peach Cobbler Factory, earned an Industrial Distribution degree from Eastern Michigan University before working logistics-related jobs — and in the Dean’s Office and Provost Office at the University of Michigan.
The Burtons credit their daughter Zoe for getting the oven warming, so to speak, on their first business venture.
“Zoe has always loved baking; she’d bake desserts in our home and take orders from people,” Mary said. “One day she told us she had been looking online, discovered this amazing franchise opportunity called The Peach Cobbler Factory, and thought it would be something exciting we could do as a family.”
Plans for expansion
“It’s awesome being able to do this as a family,” Mary said. “Obviously, there are challenges from time to time because we work together and live together, but it’s been an amazing experience.”
The Burtons already have plans to open three additional Peach Cobbler franchises in southeast Michigan and potentially purchase a food truck.
Great news for their steadily-growing contingent of comfort food-loving fans.
The Peach Cobbler Factory is a take out-only business.
For more information, visit its website here.
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
