A new bakery opened in Kent, and its mission is rooted deeper than just selling sweet treats.

The Rolling Scones Bakery & Café, owned by Robin Turner and Kassie Turner, opened in late August on 154 Cherry St.

Family-owned, the bakery is inspired by music and focuses on community, Robin said. A cozy place, their bestsellers are their scones, cupcakes, macarons and puffed popcorn.

“It’s very music-oriented in here with a lot of focus on rock ‘n’ roll, Motown, reggae and … the things that we love to listen to the most,” Robin said. “We pretty much are modeling the decor in here after the way we think about life … So that’s how we hatched the plan to turn it into what we’ve turned it into.”

Before Rolling Scones, there was Mockingbird Bakery, opened by Kassie and her friend. Before Mockingbird Bakery, there was Bittersweet, where Kassie said she worked after graduating from culinary school.

Kassie said when Bittersweet closed, she bought the assets with her friend and opened Mockingbird Bakery. When her friend had a baby and left her to run the business on her own, Kassie partnered with her aunt and uncle, Robin and her husband Rick, to open Rolling Scones.

“Before, I didn’t have a whole lot of time to actually see family,” Kassie said. “Running a business with your family, you feel more comfortable, you have more confidence in what you’re doing and you feel the support all around.”

Robin said she sees the new bakery as an opportunity to not only save Kassie’s bakery, but also make it more into the place her niece has always envisioned it to become.

Kassie said Rolling Scones is not doing weddings like Mockingbird did, so she is now doing more things she didn’t have time for with the old bakery, like breads, more scones and different types of pastries.

Robin’s son works at the new bakery, who she said has had a great experience so far.

“He’s autistic, and it was wonderful because it was giving him a sense of purpose,” Robin said. “As a mom, or a person in general, it’s so hard to hear when your kid doesn’t feel like they belong anywhere because they feel so different. And if we can help one, two people a year or more not feel that way, then that’s just gold for us.”

She hopes that when people come in the bakery can show customers that no matter one’s abilities, anyone can pursue a career path.

Kassie feels the same.

“I’m actually in a wheelchair, and it’s hard to get work when you’re disabled,” she said. “I’m lucky enough to have enough upper body strength that I can handle baking and cooking … I also hope that me doing this while still being disabled can help encourage other people who are disabled. I know when I was younger, if I’d see someone else in a wheelchair do something that I didn’t think I could do, that always encouraged me to try new things, to step out of my comfort level and see if I could stretch my limits.”

The two owners hope to become a certified training facility and employer for the Portage County and Summit County developmental disabilities boards toward the end of 2025 or beginning of 2026. They also hope to hire more people in the disability community.

“You can own a bakery. You can be a baker. You can do things that maybe you don’t know, or other people may have told you that you’re not capable of doing, but you are. You’re capable,” Robin said.

The community is getting excited about their bakery, Robin said. On just the first weekend the bakery was open, Kent State students came in to check it out.

Noticing the music theme of the bakery’s decorations, Robin said the students left and came back to gift them a Fleetwood Mac poster they bought at a poster sale on campus.

“That’s what Kent is to me,” Robin said. “I grew up in the neighboring town of Stow-Monroe Falls, went to school here, and this is what Kent’s all about, that openness and that kindness that I always experienced.”

They said they hope to become a staple in the community where people feel welcomed, are able to afford what they sell, can hang out for 30 minutes or three hours and get some sweet treats.

“We want to be a place where you can come, and if you have five bucks in your pocket, you’re gonna get a treat,” Robin said. “I think in this economy, so much is expensive, and we’ve really done a lot of research on making things affordable.”

Kassie hopes to spread happiness and comfort to the community. She said when their storefront sign is finished in the next couple of weeks, they’ll be setting up a grand opening.

“When I was younger, I wasn’t really sure about what I was going to do with my future, and then I just kind of took that plunge,” Kassie said. “I want to be able to be a safe space for people to come and enjoy coffee, or potentially come and work and have some scones. I want to give to the community as much as the community’s helped and supported me.”

Robin, a Kent State ‘90s alum who had a minor in journalism, said she is happy to know that journalism is still alive and well. Her articles are available through Kent State archives under the name ‘Robin Budzowski.’

Lauren Cohen is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].