Cassandra Thomas never would’ve thought a disagreement with her husband over the menu for Thanksgiving dinner one year would be the catalyst for an almost 40-year-old sweet potato business.
When Cassandra and Jeffery Thomas spent their first Thanksgiving together as a married couple in 1976, he wanted his wife to make candied sweet potatoes for dinner. She wasn’t a fan. But she offered him a compromise in the form of sweet potato cookies.
“I’ve been baking ever since I was a little girl, and I love cookies,” she told BridgeDetroit. “That’s why I said sweet potato cookies, to get him to leave me alone about these candied yams because I didn’t want to make them.”
These cookies created out of compromise became so beloved that the Thomas’ ultimately decided to sell them, which led to a business now known across Detroit and the country.
Sweet Potato Sensations has been a staple in the Old Redford neighborhood for more than 30 years, serving up culinary creations made out of sweet potatoes — cookies, cheesecake, cobblers, waffles, pancakes and even ice cream. Non-sweet potato items have been added to the menu over the years, and now include fried turkey, catfish, sandwiches and soups.
Keeping everything afloat at the bakery and restaurant are Thomas, 72, and her daughters, Espy Thomas, 44, and Jennifer Thomas, 43, along with their team of 18 employees.
But as the team pushes through the busy holiday season, one family member is noticeably absent from the hustle and bustle of the daily operations — patriarch Jeffery Thomas. The husband and father, also known as “Mr. Sweet Potato Sensations,” died Sept. 9, two days before his 49th wedding anniversary and eight days before his 73rd birthday.
The family is taking things one day at a time. After his passing, the family decided to shut down the business for a few weeks. While some customers questioned the bakery’s brief closure, Espy Thomas said the break was much needed.
“We live in a culture right now where we’re not really taught that people can breathe and take time,” she said. “It’s just like, ‘Somebody dies, go back to work the next day and make it happen.’ We needed a minute — and even that wasn’t long enough — but it was enough for us to plan the services as a family, the three of us, and not just have one or two people planning it.”
When it comes to priorities for the business, they’re remaining the same, Cassandra Thomas said. However, the family is struggling to keep up with the demand for holiday orders this year, getting a little behind schedule.
“We hope customers will understand because we’re still grieving and trying to work and make adjustments for ourselves,” she said.
‘Everything and anything imaginable out of sweet potatoes’
During a recent meeting with BridgeDetroit, Cassandra and Espy Thomas wore black hoodies with the words, “Detroit’s favorite sweet potato pie” emblazoned on the front. Next to the words is a sweet potato cartoon with eyes, a nose and a wide, welcoming smile, holding a sweet potato pie.
Why does the sweet potato have a face?
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Because it’s supposed to be her, Cassandra Thomas said. She finds it funny that she’s the inspiration for a logo. Sweet Potato Sensations has transformed so much since she and her husband began selling cookies in the late 80s, including its name. The business was first known as Mrs. T’s Sweet Potato Cookies.
“This was during the time when Mrs. Fields and Famous Amos were popular,” Cassandra Thomas said. “Rosedale Park had a 30-block garage sale every year at the end of June. We set up a table in the front yard of one of my friends, and we had 125 bags of cookies. I had a sign on my table that said, ‘Move over Mrs. Fields, here comes Mrs. T’s Sweet Potato Cookies.’ In less than three hours, we had sold all 125 bags of cookies.”
Later that night, Jeffery Thomas woke up from a dream inspired with the company’s new name: Sweet Potato Sensations. After getting feedback from the community through a survey they passed out at the garage sale, the Thomas’ found out people didn’t like the name Mrs. T’s Sweet Potato Cookies, Cassandra Thomas said. Plus the name limited them to only making cookies.
“We wanted to do everything and anything imaginable out of sweet potatoes, continuing the legacy of George Washington Carver,” Cassandra Thomas said.
While the agricultural scientist and inventor is known as “The Peanut Man” for the more than 300 creations he came up with for peanuts, Washington Carver also developed dozens of uses for sweet potatoes.
“The pie came next, and I think maybe the cheesecake. Then we added cake and cobbler and ice cream, because Dr. Carver made sweet potato ice cream,” Cassandra Thomas said. “And the list goes on from there.”
In the early 1990s, the couple opened their first storefront, a 700-square-foot space in Old Redford near the Redford Theatre, Cassandra Thomas said.
Part of the family
Today, Espy Thomas has a host of responsibilities to keep Sweet Potato Sensations going. She’s in charge of hiring workers, handling deliveries, coming up with marketing strategies with their marketing professional, overseeing catering events and more.
Meanwhile, Jennifer Thomas, 43, is in charge of the back of the house, such as making the batter for the pies. In fact, she’s the only one who handles that responsibility, a way to ensure quality and consistency. Mom Cassandra oversees the administrative side of the business, doing payroll and taxes. Before he passed, Jeffery Thomas was more on the business management side, focusing on product development, business forecasting and benchmarking, the process of comparing a company’s quality, performance and growth with competitors and industry best practices.
One thing is for certain: Sweet Potato Sensations remains in high demand, even after three decades with a storefront. On a recent Wednesday, a day when the bakery is usually closed, customers were still coming by, peeking in the windows and hoping to secure a treat.
November is a busy time for the family-run business, Espy Thomas said. At least half of their sales are made during the holiday season.
“There’s some customers that we only see during the holiday time, which is cool,” Thomas said. “That’s when they do their supporting.”
After Jeffery Thomas’ death, Cassandra and Espy Thomas said they were surprised by the outpouring of support from the community. A Sept. 13 post on Sweet Potato Sensations’ Facebook page announcing his passing has more than 3,000 reactions and more than 900 comments. On Instagram, the post has more than 600 likes.
Cassandra Thomas said many people in the community commented on how nice the funeral service was, including a couple of her business coaches from Techtown. Espy Thomas added that customers were dropping off cards and flowers and sharing stories about her father. Others took care of arrangements like food for the repast and helping write the obituary.
“I was like, ‘Oh wow, the community really rocks with us heavy,” Espy Thomas said. “They see us, and they acknowledge the fact that it was like, ‘Take your time.’ When the business of death takes over and you’re so forward-facing, to have people just show up and step in the gap and say, ‘Call on me,’ that is when you know the support is unreal.”
Moving forward, the Thomas’ will continue what they do best — serving pies and other sweet potato-filled treats, taking care of their employees and watching over the next generation of young people in Old Redford.
Espy Thomas said many of the young people who work at Sweet Potato Sensations are so loyal and dedicated that they don’t want to leave, or when they do find other work, they come back to the bakery part-time. She stresses that everyone who works here is part of the family.
“We’re a real family business,” Espy Thomas said. “There’s a mama, a daddy, and two sisters, and so, we show up like that in business. Sometimes, people that may be missing their family, or they may be looking for family, they see that in us. When you say a family business, it’s a real family business with all the ups and downs.”
Cassandra Thomas added that’s why she stayed in Old Redford, because she wanted to give young people a space to visit or work right in their neighborhood. One day, a boy stopped by the store on his bike and asked why the business stayed in the city, she said.
“That’s why we’re here. He can ride his bike down the street, come buy ice cream or other things that he wants in his neighborhood,” she said. “I’m a praying woman, and God has been with us throughout this entire time in this business. So, I tell people, that’s who I work for. His name is JC, Jesus Christ. He’s the one that has opened up doors of opportunity, has kept us afloat, has kept us steadfast. I know it’s nobody but the Lord who is keeping us moving forward, and that’s the truth.”
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