Uptown-flair-meets-downtown-basics. It’s the template of sorts for Sweet Tings bakery, slated to officially open in downtown, Kingston early next week. The brainchild of local business mogul Gassan Azan, the bakery is envisaged to transplant the feel of an upmarket food enterprise into the centre of the city’s busy retail streets, lined with bargain wholesale stores and an ever-moving cast of hundreds of roadside and walkabout peddlers. In a matter of days, they and the heavy concentration of thousands of pedestrians going about their business will inhale the fragrant smell of baked goodies permeating the air, enticing their nostrils through the doors, to bite into scores of sweet treats at the new eatery.

Currently being finalised, the bakery’s menu will feature a smorgasboard of guilty pleasures: some 60 items including a variety of breads, cookies, muffins, cakes. Sweet Tings’ oven output will also include signature pastries, but the word at the moment on exactly what they will be is mum!

Azan reveals that the walk-in, fully air-conditioned bakery will primarily cater to two specific pricing structures — businesses in downtown with canteens or quasi coffee shops for their employees and clients which would buy in large quantities as well as “small vendors who are fond of buying pastries from the MegaMart bakeries and selling them,” — and of course, the individual customer.

Competitors don’t intimidate Azan, as he says that his is a better, more distinctive pastry operation in comparison to others in the city. Already the two-storey building housing Sweet Tings on the corner of Beckford and Princess streets is attracting attention from curious passers-by who pause on the corner to stare at the gigantic 12 by 6 feet LED screen on the bakery’s facade that broadcasts images and shows. The mogul says the jumbo screen, and by extension, the bakery are “intended to give a ‘wow’ factor and it has been doing so already in the area.”

A firm believer and supporter in the potential of revitalising of dowtown Kingston to its prestige of a long bygone era, Azan says the opening of Sweet Tings factors into his vision of making the city attractive to the consuming market, not only in the immediate area, but to outsiders too. “The overall telling will be the wide variety [being offered], the aesthetics of the place, and the location we are at,” he opines.

With an architectural design by Jeremy Millingen, the exterior of the building showcases a decidely tropical motif, painted a vivid hue of tropical yellow. To complement the broadcast big screen (which we’re told will screen special live events, most notably the upcoming 2012 Olympics), black marquees rest atop either of the building’s sides and aqua-colured awnings complete the vibrant look.

Though the bakery’s steel shutters are drawn shut as the time is not just yet at hand for its public unveiling, Thursday Food is ushered inside on a tour by Azan. The split-level edifice, he informs, has been repurposed from a previously existing Bashco store with a $45 million investment price tag. Opting to utilise the 2,700 square foot space for a new venture instead of renting it, presently the kitchen which is located upstairs is primed to go with bread and pastry mixers, ovens and other machinery in place and fully tested. Downstairs, the scene is representative of tiled flooring, display cabinets, stainless steel shelves and fixtures and granite countertops, all ample indications of a readiness to launch.

Herbie Shim, appointed as manager of Sweet Tings, comes to the table with a decades-long history in the baking business — having overseen operations at Tastee on nearby Orange Street for some 14 years. Shim is optimistic, like Azan, of pending success. “We have good expectations,” he enthuses, “the location we are in, we have immense customer traffic and the Christmas season is coming up, so the volume should be excellent.”

If the debut of the bakery matches the hopes of its creator, Azan says more would definitely be on the way, located in high-pedestrian trafficked cities across the island. So sure of success, he shares that plans are already afoot to roll out the brand within 24 months in another four or five locations.

Sweet Tings Bakery is located at 99 Princess Street (at the intersection with Beckford Street).

The store’s opening hours for the Christmas season are 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.