boom jackson
601-362-6121 x11
  • Home
  • Stories
  • Photo Galleries
  • Read the Flipbook
  • Get Copies
  • Subscribe
  • Hitched
  • About Boom

The People’s Bakery

9/5/2018

4 Comments

 
by Amber Helsel
Picture
Kimberly Ruffin owns and operates local bakery Kimmiesweett, which she started as a home business around 2008 and expanded with a Northpark Mall storefront in 2017. Now located in Fannin Mart in Brandon, the bakery is growing to offer cake-decorating classes, coffee and more. Photo by Delreco Harris.
​Two customers gathered around the counter at Kimmiesweett in Brandon. One patiently waited as owner Kimberly Ruffin finished preparing a caramel cake—an emergency birthday cake—for another guest.
"Give me just a minute, and then we'll go in the back," Ruffin said to this reporter.

​After White took care of the first two customers, a third one—a server at Fernando's Mexico City Dining—came in to get a cupcake before her shift started. 
It was Tuesday, and in keeping with Fernando's $2 tacos on that day, Kimmiesweett does $2 cupcakes.

The decor of the shop is bright and playful, with shades of neon green, pink and a purple reminiscent of pansies. On one wall is a bouquet of pink, purple and white flowers, with a backdrop of dark green leaves. Beside that is the outline for a flower mural, which Ruffin's sister, Christy White, is creating for the shop. Pink and yellow streamers hang down from the ceiling near the front door.

Ruffin's mom, Gloria White, took over at the front counter as Ruffin headed to a room off to the party room in the back to talk. It had long tables in an L-shape. Brightly colored aprons hung on chairs, and blue-and-white teacups sat in front of each seat.

"This is our classroom," Ruffin told the Jackson Free Press. "It's coming along."

Ruffin grew up in a family that loved baking, but she found her love for cake decorating while working in baking departments for grocery stores such as Kroger, where she worked for seven years before launching Kimmiesweet.

"I loved the artistry," she said.

After the Canton native graduated from Hinds Community College with an associate's degree in hospitality, she decided to find a job in a hotel, but had no luck in the field and returned to decorating cakes.

'Well, I guess this is where I'm supposed to be, God, but if this is where I'm supposed to be, I don't want to just work at a grocery store," Ruffin told herself then. "I want to have my own bakery.'"

She started Kimmiesweett as a home-based business around 2008. Over time, it grew so big that, Ruffin decided to take it on full time in 2017, opening her first location in Northpark Mall. When Northpark began an extensive remodel earlier this summer, though, the mall informed Ruffin that Kimmiesweett's space would not be available once construction is completed.

"We were like, 'We've got to go somewhere. The people are looking for us,'" Ruffin said. "... We were not going to let Kimmiesweet die."

Ruffin shuttered the business in June 2018 and reopened in the Fannin Mart shopping center in Brandon on Aug. 1.

The new location gives Kimmiesweett more possibilities, she said. They are developing a co-working bakery space, which will have WiFi, a kitchen for guests to practice decorating and a classroom. In the future, Ruffin wants to have multiple bakery locations.

"I want to be everyone's community bakery. ... I think this (business) is my platform to teach. This is my platform to tell people to follow their passion. This is my platform to help," she said. "This is where I'm supposed to be. I know that."

​Kimmiesweett (1149 Old Fannin Road, Brandon, 601.720.9774) is open Tuesdays from noon to 8 p.m., Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, find the business on Facebook.
4 Comments
Brenda Ruffin
9/6/2018 09:47:42 pm

Kim is so passionate about everything she does.Knowing that God has her,the sky is the limit as far as her dreams go she will accomplish them.Love you, baby girl.Mama Brenda

Reply
Emily sutterfield
9/7/2018 07:27:21 am

The cake there is fabulous and Kim is a genuine sweet person! Be blessed

Reply
Niki Roberts
9/7/2018 08:54:34 am

I'm so proud of my bestie! I've watched her grow from that home based business to where she is now. It hasn't been easy...but she NEVER gave up! Her story is truly a testimony! Keep striving for greatness friend...you know I'll always be right there with you!

Reply
Phyllis
9/12/2018 06:29:58 pm

Kimmiesweett’s is awesome! The bread pudding is fantastic!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    BOOM Jackson

    Boom Jackson in the business + lifestyle publication for Jackson, Mississippi and surrounding counties.

    Archives

    December 2018
    September 2018
    June 2018
    March 2018
    December 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    March 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    January 2016

    Categories

    All
    Allies
    Arts
    Best Of Jackson
    Bites
    BIZ
    Chicks We Love
    Christmas
    City
    Civil Rights
    Coolest Office
    Cool Too
    Cover
    Development
    Do Gooder
    Do-gooder
    Editor's Note
    Expat
    Family
    Film
    Food And Drink
    Gift Guide
    Helper
    History
    Hitched
    Jacksonian
    JFP
    JXN
    Listen
    Littles
    Local
    Management
    Media
    Melodies
    Mississippi
    Modern
    Music
    My Local List
    Natural
    Nightlife
    Passion
    Peekaboo
    People And Places
    Power Couples
    Progress
    Publisher's Note
    Resurgence
    Secret City
    Service
    Small Batch
    Sports
    Tailgating
    Tech
    Transformation
    Travel
    Voices
    Wellness
    Young Influentials
    Youth Media Project
    Zen

    RSS Feed

slides
Website by JFPSites.com