Forget Patty Cake.
It's all about Patti's pies! The Patti LaBelle -- the one who used to sing about marmalade (at least "Lady Marmalade") -- is enjoying sweet success with her pies.
LaBelle has become the belle of Wal-Mart, thanks to a $3.48 sweet potato pie and a video gone viral. Flamboyant fan James Wright put out a YouTube video praising the singer and cookbook author's pies while singing like the diva herself, earning millions of views. As of press time, the pies were in high demand, low supply and being sold on eBay and Craigslist for hundreds, even thousands, of dollars.
Scott Markley, spokesman for Wal-Mart in Bentonville, says, "They were selling well before [the video]; they debuted in September. " But he says in the three days that followed Wright's viral review, Wal-Mart sold them "at a rate of one pie per second. ... We bought enough stock to get us through the holidays." But no one could predict this response, he adds: "Certainly not to this degree."
As for the current inventory, he says: "We're not sold out, but they are very, very difficult to find. We're moving them out of distribution centers ... and getting them out to stores as quickly as possible" as well as transferring inventory from stores where there is a more ample supply to stores that are sold out.
They are out there, he insists. He finally got his hands on one: "We searched all over Northwest Arkansas to find a couple; we were able to find a few."
As for the verdict? He says, "The pie is fantastic. It is very, very good."
He estimated more could be on shelves in the next few days, after all, "Wal-Mart is buying 2 million pounds of California sweet potatoes for our next stock."
So maybe hold off on that $348 pie purchase; it could be readily available for $3.48 soon.
Markley says, "We know the pies you're buying in stores are the real deal. I can't speak to what someone is buying on eBay or Craigslist."
Well surely there had to be just one pie left on a shelf somewhere in the Little Rock/North Little Rock/ Maumelle stores. I called several to ask if they had any pies, only to hear:
• "We're completely out." When will they be back in stock? "Probably in the next couple weeks. We ran out just as quickly as they hit the [shelves]."
• "No we do not." When will they be back in stock? "The last thing I heard, not until after Christmas. I'm not sure."
• "No, I do not." Do you know when will they be back in stock? "No, I do not."
• "They're all out everywhere." This store worker told me there is a sign in the bakery telling people how to be notified when they are back in stock.
Then I called Hot Springs and got an encouraging "Just a moment," answer. At least it wasn't an immediate no! But when she returned, I got a ''No, we don't."
Then I called Conway and got a "One second." One second turned into nine minutes before someone else answered and asked who I was holding for. She transferred me to the bakery where I was told "No, we're completely out of them."
Finally I tried to think of a place that wouldn't know LaBelle. Mountain View, with its folk music focus fit the bill. I called and I was met with a "Let me ask, OK?" And when the worker returned, she informed me, "We do have them in the bakery!"
Yes! Patti's sweet potato pie was just ... two hours away? A four-hour round trip? I'm too much of a couch potato to drive all that distance for sweet potato.
Heck, I could make one in that amount of time! And you could too!
I found LaBelle's recipe from LaBelle Cuisine: Recipes to Sing About (Clarkson Potter, 1999), as adapted by The Washington Post.
Visit tinyurl.com/labellepierecipe.
Columnist's note: If I were making Patti's pie "On My Own," I would use a Pillsbury premade crust.
Serve a slice of email to:
jchristman@arkansasonline.com
Spin Cycle is a weekly smirk at popular culture. You can hear Jennifer on Little Rock's KURB-FM, B98.5 (B98.com), from 5:30-9 a.m. Monday through Friday.
Style on 11/29/2015