Brown Sugar Bakery sees surge in business, some backlash after VP Kamala Harris visits South Side business

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Brown Sugar Bakery is closed Mondays, but an avalanche of orders forced the owner to bring in staff on their day off to make cakes.

The surge in orders comes after Vice President Kamala Harris make a surprise visit to the bakery along the 75th Street business district last week.

"I was so happy that she came to our community," said Stephanie Hart, owner of Brown Sugar Bakery.

Hart didn't even make it to the shop before the Vice President's ten-minute stop.

Brown Sugar's founder said Vice President Kamala Harris wanted to support a small business, and the South Side bakery was on her friends' list of suggestions.

"I was so humbled by the referral. Whoever told her to go to Brown Sugar, that just grew my heart a little bit. It's just amazing," Hart said.

She said she was surprised to see some news reports the next day questioning why the vice president was at a Chicago Bakery instead of the U.S.-Mexico border.

"It's mostly sad," Hart said. "I just don't understand how you can equate those two things."

After the visit is when she began getting racist voicemails and emails, she said.

"We pass over the nasty emails and our standard response is that everyone is welcomed at Brown Sugar Bakery," she said. "They're not going to rain on our parade, they're just not."

Hart is choosing to focus on the positive feedback and all the new business coming their way.