My Hometown Business
With Easter around the corner, bright colors, fresh flowers, and yummy sweets come to mind. Jenn’s Cookie Creations is a popular stop to fill baskets and dessert trays with tasty treats. Customers have been enjoying its exquisitely decorated sugar cookies for five years, but the bakery began almost by accident.
Prior to starting Jenn’s Cookie Creations, owner Jenn Riggio grew up on Long Island, where she owned a balloon decorating business. After moving to Rochester, where she’s lived for the past 17 years, she worked at Wegmans on the front end before finding herself in the Create-a-Cake department. Her store manager felt the move would be a perfect fit, and Riggio loved the new position. “I am not sure that inspired the cookie store, but it set the plans in motion,” said Riggio. Once her grandfather fell ill, Riggio decided to stay home full time to take care of him. A self-proclaimed workaholic, she kept herself busy by baking cookies.
4 | My Hometown April 2022
“Coping with my grandfather’s end of life inspired the cookie life,” explained Riggio, noting her grandfather always wanted her to open up a cookie shop. “It was a great way to heal my grief.” In 2014, Riggio began selling her cookies to friends and family. What started as a part-time job blossomed into a bustling cookie business. To keep up with orders, Riggio built a kitchen in her basement and went through the process of getting it licensed by the county. “We outgrew that in a year, which is when we opened the first store in January of 2017,” she said. From there, Jenn’s Cookie Creations saw double-digit growth every year, with the exception of 2020. “The pandemic was a challenge, reinventing our ways temporarily in order to sustain the year.” One of those adjustments was offering curbside pickup. The bakery saw such a great response that they decided to expand, moving into their current storefront in Chili Paul Center. “In 2021, we relocated to a space four times the original size – and here we are a year later,” said Riggio. While the bakery continues to grow, Riggio makes it a point to keep her sugar cookies – the most popular item on their menu – as the main business. “People love seeing their ideas all trayed
