By Shannon McFarlin WENK/WTPR News Director
Paris, Tenn.—If you haven’t experienced Sweet Jordan’s yet, you really should. And it is an experience, not just a trip to a sweet shop.
Sweet Jordan’s opened in the new shopping mall on Volunteer Drive in Paris and is a bakery and ice cream shop, with comfy chairs and couches as well as a large kids’ play area.
But more importantly, Sweet Jordan’s is the only spot for miles around that employs staff with special needs. It now employs 29 people with special needs and has become one of the very few places in the local area where special needs employees can be placed by the area employment agencies. It currently employs people not only from Henry County, but from Murray, Camden and other cities in our area.
It is the brainchild of Brad and Tommie St. John, whose son, Jordan was born with Down Syndrome 27 years ago.
It is fast becoming the favorite spot for many, young and old, in Paris and is becoming well known for its wide variety of ice cream flavors and cookies, as well as its sweet rolls, coffees, tea and soft drinks.
Brad St. John was ill a couple years ago and in the words of his wife, “The only thing he really felt like doing was baking with Jordan.” Brad and Jordan whipped up a lot of cookies and took batches to various places, including the Helping Hand Radio Auction, where people “went crazy for them”, Tommie said.
That was the beginning of what has now become Sweet Jordan’s. “At first we thought this was something Brad and Jordan could do, open a small bakery, nothing big.”
But, Tommie said, God had bigger plans and it has grown into Sweet Jordan’s. Sweet Jordan’s is open Monday through Thursday fro 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Friday and Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Photos: Tiffany Flores and Phillip Howard make cookies; cookies ready on the counter. (Shannon McFarlin photos).
But more importantly, Sweet Jordan’s is the only spot for miles around that employs staff with special needs. It now employs 29 people with special needs and has become one of the very few places in the local area where special needs employees can be placed by the area employment agencies. It currently employs people not only from Henry County, but from Murray, Camden and other cities in our area.
It is the brainchild of Brad and Tommie St. John, whose son, Jordan was born with Down Syndrome 27 years ago.
It is fast becoming the favorite spot for many, young and old, in Paris and is becoming well known for its wide variety of ice cream flavors and cookies, as well as its sweet rolls, coffees, tea and soft drinks.
Brad St. John was ill a couple years ago and in the words of his wife, “The only thing he really felt like doing was baking with Jordan.” Brad and Jordan whipped up a lot of cookies and took batches to various places, including the Helping Hand Radio Auction, where people “went crazy for them”, Tommie said.
That was the beginning of what has now become Sweet Jordan’s. “At first we thought this was something Brad and Jordan could do, open a small bakery, nothing big.”
But, Tommie said, God had bigger plans and it has grown into Sweet Jordan’s. Sweet Jordan’s is open Monday through Thursday fro 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Friday and Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Photos: Tiffany Flores and Phillip Howard make cookies; cookies ready on the counter. (Shannon McFarlin photos).