For Jordan Edwards, the new brick-and-mortar café is the latest step in a journey shaped by family, mentors and community support.
By Nick J. Buckley / For Black Squirrel News
BATTLE CREEK — Jordan Edwards stood tall behind the counter of his new bakery and cafe.
As his team filled cases with freshly baked goods during the March 3 grand opening, he poured cappuccinos and chai lattes and delivered them to a table of customers, telling them they were the first at JJ’s Sweet Treats Bakery and Café at 295 E. Emmett St. in Battle Creek’s Historic Northside neighborhood.
For Edwards, who was born and raised in Battle Creek, the opening marked a new stage in a business he began as a teenager and has grown steadily with support from family, mentors and the community. On the lower level of Greensmith Studios, JJ’s Sweet Treats now has its first brick-and-mortar home, with room for coffee service, seating and events.
“The community has just supported me every step along the journey and followed me from farmers markets, to doing BC Cargo, to being in my mom’s shop, to now being in the brick and mortar here,” Edwards said. “I’ve seen the community come out and support me through the different phases.”
The first batch
Edwards traces the start of the business to childhood, when he baked his first lemon pound cake with his mother. By 13, he was taking Generation E, Willard Library’s young entrepreneurship program, where he developed the concept and name for JJ’s Sweet Treats, a reference to his middle name, Jeremiah.
“It started at age 7. I baked my first lemon pound cake with my mom in the kitchen, and I just remember flour and sugar flying everywhere in the kitchen,” Edwards recalled. “But I was just having so much fun making this cake to share with my friends and my family. And that’s where the spark for baking really started. I was just so proud of what I had made, so that’s where my passion started.”
He later built a customer base through markets, including the Marshall Area Farmers Market, where he got to know customers and began experimenting with vegan and gluten-free items.
From scratch
JJ’s Sweet Treats grew in stages. The business started at BC Cargo — the city’s downtown small business incubator made up of converted shipping containers — and later operated inside his mother’s shop, Chris Edwards Salon, before expanding into a bakery and café with three employees.
Edwards said family support was key along the way. His mother, also an entrepreneur, modeled the kind of atmosphere he wanted to create. His father paid for a cooking class in Chicago when he was 15, and his stepfather helped get the new cafe ready. He also credited mentor and former Umami Ramen owner Peecoon Allen and the Battle Creek Small Business Development office with helping him move from one phase to the next.
Edwards said Allen first became a mentor through Generation E and later rented commissary kitchen space that helped bridge the gap before he moved into the new location.
“There’s just been so much support, and it’s been hard work, but I’ve had a lot of people that have come along to make this dream a reality,” Edwards said.
A place to gather
The East Emmett Street location appealed to Edwards because of its neighborhood and proximity to customers within walking distance. He also said he was excited by the chance to collaborate with Greensmith Studios upstairs.
The new space allows him to expand beyond baked goods into coffee service and create a place where customers can sit down, meet with friends and stay awhile. On opening day, some stopped in for pastries to go, while others lingered over coffee flights.
“I just really wanted to make this an intentional space,” Edwards said. “It’s intentional from the moment that you walk into it (until) the moment that you leave. We want you to feel like you’re being cared for while you’re here, just through how we do everything.”
How we reported this: This story is based on multiple site visits, in-person interviews and background research using local documentation, including archives from the Battle Creek Shopper, the Battle Creek Enquirer and materials from the Battle Creek Visitors Bureau.
Photos by Nick J. Buckley.
WEBSITE: https://www.orderjjsbakery.com/
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.