A local bakery has landed on the South Side for their first brick and mortar. J’s Sweet Treats and Wedding Cakes, started in 2016 in the home of founder Juana Williams, will open at 1540 Parsons Ave. later this year.
J’s will share a building with The Pit BBQ Grille’s second location, which was announced last month. At 950 square feet, the intimate space will house J’s vast inventory of sweets. The bakery is known primarily for its custom wedding cakes, but J’s will make everything already available to order on their website, including all occasion cakes, cupcakes, cake pops, and caramel and chocolate-dipped apples. A traditional bakery, J’s won’t have an espresso bar, though coffee, pops and juices will be available.
Preferring an “industrial, chic” aesthetic, Williams says the bakery will make use of the exposed brick and maintain a minimalistic approach to decor. To her, “less is more.”
J’s Sweet Treats and Wedding Cakes initially started as a hobby, with Williams providing custom cakes for friends and family. After a pop-up event — “The pop-up that never shut down” — the business took over Williams’ home, and as it continues to grow, her husband Vance says J’s needs a bigger facility to accommodate it. She says Parsons Avenue, a rapidly developing corridor, is perfect for the bakery’s store front.
“Parsons is an up and coming area, and we wanted to be a part of this community,” she says. “We love what’s happening along Parsons.”
Williams has been baking for most of her life. Her parents owned a restaurant, and she often helped her mother plan and execute the desserts of the day. She’s carrying on that mother-daughter baking tradition with her own daughter Takia, who’s become her right hand in the kitchen. The two first came together as a baking team on Buddy Valastro’s show “Bake It Like Buddy,” “so she got a crash course in baking, learning my recipes, icing cakes and rolling fondant.”
Barring any complications, Williams is aiming for a July or August opening.
For more information, visit jssweettreatsandweddingcakes.com.