MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Ginger's Bread and Co is a specialty made bread shop owned by Jimmy Hoxie. Hoxie started making sourdough breads about 20 years ago, and eventually got really good at it.
"The beginning of the pandemic, I was working for two different places, and one place shut down completely, and the other place only could keep essential staff. Without employment and not knowing how long that would be, I was like, I got to find something to do," said Hoxie.
He ended up turning half of his rental property into a bakery. "We were online only, front porch pick up, contact free. That got to a point where we were doing so much business that our driveway was blocked up with people, and we had people constantly stopping by thinking that we were open..."
Hoxie was able to pick up a few wholesale clients, two of them being High Point Grocery and MOSH (Museum of Science and History). Hoxie said, "It just got to a point where we couldn't use our kitchen anymore. We had to move into a more commercial space."
He wanted to build out a kitchen with his retail space but the costs were too high at the time, so instead they rent out kitchen space at OtherFoods Kitchen, and they bring everything over to the shop afterwards.
The Ginger's Bread and Co officially opened May 17, 2022, and he did pop-ups in his space before the construction started.
The name of Hoxie's shop is a play on him being a redhead. "The name came from my weird brain. Being a red head, often called a ginger, I thought it was a fun play on gingerbread," said Hoxie.
"We specialize in sourdough. We flavor our sourdough with all different kinds of things. We have our classic country white, and baguettes. We have seasonal specialties, like coming up for February we have our cherry and dark chocolate sourdough. We also do rosemary and black pepper, tomato and basil, roasted garlic, just all different kinds of flavors," said Hoxie.
The Ginger's Bread and Co is known for their croissants. "We make them the old school way, it's all real butter, it's all real ingredients, which gives it all the real flavor," said Hoxie. Hoxie is also Jewish, and to celebrate that, he makes a bread called Challah and Challah tarts that change throughout the season.
Hoxie is preparing special items for a few holidays and special events. On Valentine's Day, there will be a special menu with items such as a Sweetie Pie, which are hand pies shaped like hearts, and Sweet Hearts, which are chocolate sandwich cookies, similar to an Oreo, but made with pink buttercream and sprinkles.
Hoxie is a big lover of New Orleans, so during the pandemic he wanted to bring Mardi Gras to Memphis, so he began baking King Cakes, which is a New Orleans tradition. "I was trying to lift spirits and bring people the spirit of Mardi Gras. "It just kind of took off, so every year, leading up to Mardi Gras, we just started doing at least two different kinds of King Cakes and some different types of cookies, and Pralines and Banana Foster muffins, bread puddings and all the good stuff," said Hoxie.
Hoxie also makes Rice Krispy treats and rainbow sprinkle cookies - a fundraiser year round for Out Memphis, and Pride croissants and cheesecake for Pride month.
Starting this year, on Friday's and Saturday's leading up to Fat Tuesday, he'll be making Muffalettas and Muffaletta bread, which is a 10 inch round sandwich layered full of meat and cheese, and with a spicy, salty, sour olive spread.
If you're interested in becoming a Baker or just want to bake with a group, The Ginger's Bread and Co has a Bread Club. Participants sign up for 6 months or a year, and bake a loaf or two each month. You can visit their website for more information.
The shop also has a Bread Happy Hour, every Saturday from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. where everything is half off.
The Ginger's Bread and Co is located at 1613 Union Avenue.
