Life is sweet for
HRC Cheesecakes owner and baker Tenesha Hartley.
Hartley opened her dessert-centric business at 119 E. Main St., Bellevue, on Sept. 28 to satisfy the sweet tooths of Bellevue residents and others in the region.
The grand opening was so successful that Hartley sold out her entire weekend inventory on the first day, and she’s been busy ever since.
“I have customers coming from everywhere,” she says. “I have had customers as far north as Canada and as far south as Kentucky.”
The idea for HRC Cheesecakes, which is named after Hartley’s children–Hunter, River, and Calliope–came from the former’s love of the creamy concoctions.
“I like cheesecakes and didn’t want to buy one, so I taught myself how to make one,” she says.
![]()
Courtesy of HRC CheesecakesFrom front to back is the staff of HRC Cheesecakes:Claudia Diaz, Taylor Clift, Crystal Scheid and Tenesha Hartley.That escalated to her baking the treats for her family and friends.
“I’m also a single mom and would have my best friend’s husband fix things in my house and would pay him in cheesecakes,” Hartley says. “She told me I should really sell them. I told her no one would ever buy a cheesecake from a nobody.”
Hartley took her friend’s advice, though, and made a Facebook post to sell her cheesecakes for Father’s Day.
“And it just took off from there,” Hartley says.
That led to Hartley baking cheesecakes for local businesses, including Main Street Tavern in Huron; Donny’s in Wellington; The Freight House Pub & Grill and Bluto’s Hometown Tavern, both in Norwalk; Fat Head’s Family Restaurant in Republic; and The Club and Vine & Olive, both in Sandusky.
It was good timing for the Bellevue resident, who was closing the doors of Eagle Strong, her Monroeville-based nutrition club.
“I was trying to get as many orders as I could to get the money to build HRC,” she says.
Building that business has been no small task, and in order to keep the dessert cases full, Hartley relies on her friends Crystal Scheid and Claudia Diaz, both of whom take orders and help with prep.
Those cases are filled with some of HRC’s most popular flavors, which include strawberry shortcake, Reese’s, and lemon blueberry. Those are just a few of the more than 120 flavors in Hartley’s cheesecake arsenal.
“I can make any flavor and come up with any flavor,” she says.
When it comes to her hopes for the future of HRC Cheesecakes, Hartley’s goal revolves around her customers.
“[I want] to make everyone that walks through the doors walk out a little bit happier knowing that the cheesecake that they chose is going to taste amazing,” she says.
For information on HRC Cheesecakes’ flavors of the day, click over to the business’s Facebook page and visit the storefront at 119 E. Main St., Bellevue.