
| Name | Sweets BAKER’S [1] | |
| Gender | Male | |
| HIST | Baker's Sweets expanding JADE ANDERSON / THE ITEM Baker's Sweets expanding Jennifer Baker, owner and manager of Baker's Sweets Bakery and Café LLC, laughs after touching the pipe that will feed water to the new espresso machine. She and her staff of 27 look forward to having more space to work and offer Sumter more dining options. BY JADE ANDERSON janderson@theitem.com If everything goes according to schedule, Baker's Sweets Bakery and Café LLC will mark its 13th anniversary in November with an expanded store. "Who said 13 is not a lucky number?" said Jennifer Baker, owner and manager of the local eatery. By taking over the adjacent area that was formerly a UPS store, Baker's Sweets will add an additional 1,900 square feet to bring the total to 4,500 square feet, she said. Not bad for a shop that started off November 2000 with 700 square feet in the Liberty Square shopping center. "Basically you'd walk in and order a custom cake, and then in a few days, you'd come back and pick it up," Baker said. "People kept asking, 'don't you have a muffin or cinnamon roll?' Slowly we added, and in 2003 we added coffee. We were working with Brick Street swapping coffee for bread." That was the same year Baker's Sweets moved to Alice Drive. Within three years, the shop was serving up lunch items; and nearly two years ago, the operation expanded to include a kiosk location at Tuomey Regional Medical Center that is now being run by Baker's 22-year-old son. "When I started the business, I started it so it didn't have to be my kids' dream," Baker said. "I wanted them to do whatever they want. But he seems to be really interested." While the discussion of the current $250,000 project has been under negotiations for a couple of years, the actual renovations began about three weeks ago. "It's taken a lot of prayer," Baker said. "The time would come, and we'd be knocking on the door to Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's just really hard for us to do it during the holidays. When the jackhammers started, I let the customers know about the renovations on Facebook. Up until then, it didn't seem real." She is also using the social media network to solicit ideas for new menu items. "We're adding a restaurant kitchen," Baker said. "A baker's kitchen is different from a restaurant, so we'll be able to expand the menu. We're hoping to have a Saturday brunch and add heartier dinner options, something more than just salads and sandwiches." To help her in this new endeavor, Brett Bishop from Rascals will become the culinary manager. She also hopes to add casseroles to go and a number of specialty breads. "We've had a lot of people asking about meals-on-the-go," Baker said. "Hopefully we can package casserole with a salad for two or four and a little bread so people will have an entire meal." The breads will also go nicely with the gluten-free, preservative-free Boar's Head lunch meats the eatery switched to two months ago and that are available by the pound, she said. Other shop additions include: • Private dining area for parties of 15 to 20 guests; • More seating including high-top or pub tables and booths; • Deli case and pastry case; • Two additional restrooms, one for employees and one for customers; • Express lane for customers wanting coffee only; and • Expanded retail section featuring work by local artists. "It will be fun to go back to doing kids' parties," Baker said. "Awhile back, we'd have them decorate cookies or cakes, but it always had to be after we closed or Sunday afternoons. This building has been good to us. It's not really designed to do what we've been doing. It will be nice to have a little extra room." Baker's Sweets will remain closed on Sundays, but it will open at 6 a.m. instead of 6:30 a.m. and stay open until 8 p.m. or possibly 9 p.m. She's worked with some wonderful people over the years, Baker said, and she never imagined the business growing this much. "My mom was a hairdresser, and when she found out she was pregnant, a lady who always came in for her curl and set offered to be my godmother," Baker said. "She was never able to have children of her own, so when she passed away, she left me the money I used to start the bakery. She was an accountant for the U.S. government, so I think she'd be proud to see how I grew her money." Reach Jade Anderson at (803) 774-1250. Posted in Local news, News on Wednesday, September 11, 2013 [1] | |
| HIST | Baker's Sweets expanding JADE ANDERSON / THE ITEM Baker's Sweets expanding Jennifer Baker, owner and manager of Baker's Sweets Bakery and Café LLC, laughs after touching the pipe that will feed water to the new espresso machine. She and her staff of 27 look forward to having more space to work and offer Sumter more dining options. BY JADE ANDERSON janderson@theitem.com If everything goes according to schedule, Baker's Sweets Bakery and Café LLC will mark its 13th anniversary in November with an expanded store. "Who said 13 is not a lucky number?" said Jennifer Baker, owner and manager of the local eatery. By taking over the adjacent area that was formerly a UPS store, Baker's Sweets will add an additional 1,900 square feet to bring the total to 4,500 square feet, she said. Not bad for a shop that started off November 2000 with 700 square feet in the Liberty Square shopping center. "Basically you'd walk in and order a custom cake, and then in a few days, you'd come back and pick it up," Baker said. "People kept asking, 'don't you have a muffin or cinnamon roll?' Slowly we added, and in 2003 we added coffee. We were working with Brick Street swapping coffee for bread." That was the same year Baker's Sweets moved to Alice Drive. Within three years, the shop was serving up lunch items; and nearly two years ago, the operation expanded to include a kiosk location at Tuomey Regional Medical Center that is now being run by Baker's 22-year-old son. "When I started the business, I started it so it didn't have to be my kids' dream," Baker said. "I wanted them to do whatever they want. But he seems to be really interested." While the discussion of the current $250,000 project has been under negotiations for a couple of years, the actual renovations began about three weeks ago. "It's taken a lot of prayer," Baker said. "The time would come, and we'd be knocking on the door to Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's just really hard for us to do it during the holidays. When the jackhammers started, I let the customers know about the renovations on Facebook. Up until then, it didn't seem real." She is also using the social media network to solicit ideas for new menu items. "We're adding a restaurant kitchen," Baker said. "A baker's kitchen is different from a restaurant, so we'll be able to expand the menu. We're hoping to have a Saturday brunch and add heartier dinner options, something more than just salads and sandwiches." To help her in this new endeavor, Brett Bishop from Rascals will become the culinary manager. She also hopes to add casseroles to go and a number of specialty breads. "We've had a lot of people asking about meals-on-the-go," Baker said. "Hopefully we can package casserole with a salad for two or four and a little bread so people will have an entire meal." The breads will also go nicely with the gluten-free, preservative-free Boar's Head lunch meats the eatery switched to two months ago and that are available by the pound, she said. Other shop additions include: • Private dining area for parties of 15 to 20 guests; • More seating including high-top or pub tables and booths; • Deli case and pastry case; • Two additional restrooms, one for employees and one for customers; • Express lane for customers wanting coffee only; and • Expanded retail section featuring work by local artists. "It will be fun to go back to doing kids' parties," Baker said. "Awhile back, we'd have them decorate cookies or cakes, but it always had to be after we closed or Sunday afternoons. This building has been good to us. It's not really designed to do what we've been doing. It will be nice to have a little extra room." Baker's Sweets will remain closed on Sundays, but it will open at 6 a.m. instead of 6:30 a.m. and stay open until 8 p.m. or possibly 9 p.m. She's worked with some wonderful people over the years, Baker said, and she never imagined the business growing this much. "My mom was a hairdresser, and when she found out she was pregnant, a lady who always came in for her curl and set offered to be my godmother," Baker said. "She was never able to have children of her own, so when she passed away, she left me the money I used to start the bakery. She was an accountant for the U.S. government, so I think she'd be proud to see how I grew her money." Reach Jade Anderson at (803) 774-1250. Posted in Local news, News on Wednesday, September 11, 2013 | |
| _UID | 68B5F9B352EB4825B540BA12D911B014E207 | |
| _UID | 68B5F9B352EB4825B540BA12D911B014E207 | |
| Person ID | I287906 | Singleton and Related Families |
| Last Modified | 21 Sep 2013 | |
| Family | Baker’s SWEETS | |
| _UID | 54BE5502271F4B469D4A0F8403DDC6E4449E | |
| _UID | 54BE5502271F4B469D4A0F8403DDC6E4449E | |
| Family ID | F193303 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified | 23 Mar 2026 | |
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