Since I don't ever purchase cakes in store and never have except for a cheesecake when I'm lazy, I had no idea on what I'm about to tell you all (but I'm sure all of you already know).
About a month or so ago I went to our local grocer chain and asked if I could buy a cake box from them and they told me no because their cakes come frozen in the box before they decorate them and they have no extras.
At this point I looked at them kind of stupid because my mind was blown by this fact. They told me that all major chains down here do that and I never knew it. This whole time I thought they had been making them from scratch and no that I know this it helps as far as any type of cake business endeavor.. it makes our prices seem more reasonable..
But what I wanted to know was how many people know that grocers like Publix, Walmart, Winn Dixie, etc.. do not bake their own cakes in the bakeries?
I thought they just made them from packaged mixes and froze them. Didnt realize they get the frozen.
I heard that awhile ago and was kind of shocked myself. I heard that Sam's Club and Wal-Mart did but didn't think most grocery stores were doing that also. I guess thats why they are so cheep to buy.
Did not know that either I also thought they made them and froze them.
I didn't know they came to them in the box. Though I did know that they recieved them baked and frozen. All big box places do it that way. They are made in a giant factory by the thousands and shipped across the country to different chains. It why they are so damn cheap... and why we can in no way compete with the prices. 
I wanted to add that they get pretty much everything shipped in frozen. Muffin batter, cookie dough, bread dough... none of it is made in house. They just thaw it out and/or bake it.
Come to think about it, that is why Wal-Mart smells like, uhhhmmm how to put this nicely.... people 
and not cookies or cakes baking. We used to have Delchamps stores down here, before Walley World put Joe Schmoe out of business, they did their own baking. You could smell the cakes all over the neighborhood. Do they(Walley World) even fry their own doughnuts anymore? SAD
There is a huge commercial bakery about an hour from me that bakes for Kroger. I'm not sure how many, I'm think it's like for the southeast division or something like that. I just thought it was a big factory till one day I had to go there for a class project.
I'm pretty sure the cakes come in filled and iced and they just add the details.
I knew that about Walmart because I've tried to buy a box from them before, but my Kroger always has boxes available and is willing to sell them to me. The funny part is watching them try to figure out how to print up a label so they can scan it into the computer. 
Come to think about it, that is why Wal-Mart smells like, uhhhmmm how to put this nicely.... people
and not cookies or cakes baking.
Soylent Green!!! 
When I got hired at a supertarget bakery I thought everything was from scratch and freshly baked....
I was wrong!
We order boxes that have 6 half sheets in them and we fill and decorated them.
Even the muffins, cookies and pies come in frozen and we just pop them in the oven straight from the freezer.....makes me sad
One day I hope to work at a REAL bakery!
lol...that's old news to me...They dont bake the cakes..they are frozen God knows for how long...
Edna
We usually have a six month freezer life for a lot of items...sometimes it's less..
But who knows how long it was frozen before it was shipped to the stores.. 
Years ago, I worked at a grocery store bakery...they got 2 kinds of frozen cakes. Some came already decorated (border, roses, you know) and some came iced plain white and the decorator did the rest. It was perfectly acceptable (to them) to keep them frozen for a year, and generally what was put in the display case was still frozen...in fact, some decorated cakes went out still frozen with instructions to the customer "Just leave it out on your counter and it will thaw in an hour."
It why they are so damn cheap... and why we can in no way compete with the prices.
I wanted to add that they get pretty much everything shipped in frozen. Muffin batter, cookie dough, bread dough... none of it is made in house. They just thaw it out and/or bake it.
That's why Walmart can advertise 31 oz. Mother's Day Cakes for $9.00, but 4.25 oz cupcakes are $2.00 each? Look at the new Walmart ad that came out today.
BTW: the pita bread and bagels you find at the deli counter at Food Lion are frozen and then put out to thaw. As are their glazed doughnuts. Very sad. Ingles stores still bake a few things and their stores smell wonderful. Ummmm love their apple fritters
About 15 years ago (totally dating myself 
) I worked as a clerk in a Meijer bakery. At that time they baked their own cakes (from mixes) and decorated them in-house. Don't know if that is still the case, though...
when I was 16 I worked at my first cake decorating job at Stop & Shop. All the cakes are frozen individually in thin clear plastic and there are usually 12-20 cakes in a box depending on the size of the cake. You go to the freezer as needed to get cakes to decorate as orders come in and as shelf cakes disappear. All the buttercream is ready made, ready colored in buckets so it's all very efficient. The bettercream which is the whipped topping they use on some cakes comes in a bucket, you have to whip that. They do make their own whipped cream and add sugar and vanilla to it and use it on some cakes and also put it on their ready made pies that come in frozen as well but just need whipped cream on top. I'm 26 now so ten years later when I pass by the bakery section of this store it does not look like it has changed at all but that is why it's so cheap.
Now you know why everything tastes the same (YUCK)
Yep, I did know this, and it's one of my top selling points to anyone who thinks my prices are kind of high. I say, more power to ya if you want to buy something that was baked six months ago in Kentucky and shipped on a slow boat, then thrown in the freezer here. (Nothing against Kentucky, that was just the first state that popped into my head. ) You get what I'm sayin'!
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I knew that about Walmart because I've tried to buy a box from them before, but my Kroger always has boxes available and is willing to sell them to me. The funny part is watching them try to figure out how to print up a label so they can scan it into the computer.
That's cause every item has a 5 or so digit code to enter into the label machine and that sometimes takes longer to find ( in a book of hundreds and hunreds of item numbers ) than actually taking the cake out of the freezer and finishing , just to print out the stupid lable ! 
I did know that, but I went to Sam's club a few weeks ago. I was waiting for the baker to get back from lunch so that I could buy some bettercream. So I can see back in the bakery dept, and I saw about 12 round baked cakes. I thought about them being frozen, so I guess they were just thawing them out. It's a shame that most people don't know that, and that's part of the reason I think non bakers sometimes balk at our prices and the amount of time it takes us.
Do they(Walley World) even fry their own doughnuts anymore? SAD
Nope, received frozen, baked in an oven.
Our local Wally World had to fire one of the ppl in the bakery for dipping the donuts in the glaze barehanded....
I did know that, but I went to Sam's club a few weeks ago. I was waiting for the baker to get back from lunch so that I could buy some bettercream. So I can see back in the bakery dept, and I saw about 12 round baked cakes. I thought about them being frozen, so I guess they were just thawing them out. It's a shame that most people don't know that, and that's part of the reason I think non bakers sometimes balk at our prices and the amount of time it takes us.
I work in the bakery at BJ's, our cakes come in already baked, filled and iced. They do come in frozen, the decorator just decorates them and puts them back in the freezer until the customer picks them up. They come in their own boxes or containers so we don't have any to sell either. We've had alot of customers inquire about buying a cake box, I just direct them to a nearby Michael's or the cake shop I deal with. I used to work at a supermarket bakery where we did bake our cakes fresh, but then they changed to getting in frozen uniced full sheets that were cut into whatever size we needed. Our cake prices at BJ's are cheap, 1/4 sheet is $15.99, 1/2 sheet is $19.99 and full sheets are $29.99. The prices also includes the decopac on top or an edible image. Funny thing is we still get complaints from customers that our prices are too high! Go figure!
Hi everyone. I too knew that stores did this but I had a big shocker the other day.
I decided I needed to get a job 
and went to a new bakery that just opened up a couple of months ago. They have been advertising speacialty (?) cakes and the such so I went to go see if they could use another decorator. I was informed that all their cakes were made and decorated in orange county ( about an hour away ) and then shipped to them. They didn't even have a kitchen in their bakery! What's up with that? Is that a normal thing too?
Everytime I'm in a grocery store whether Walmart, Fred Meyer's, and Safeway I look at their cakes just to see . The other day I was in Safeway and here comes a load of frozen cakes ready for the display cases. I was (shocked) I thought they were one of the few storesd who still baked, I was wrong
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