Grounded & Baked to open Kinston location on Queen Street

Grounded & Baked is expanding to Kinston with a new location planned for downtown across from the courthouse at 121 S. Queen St.

The bakery and coffee shop announced the move in a video Thursday, saying the Kinston location will be its fourth. Existing locations in La Grange, Goldsboro and Mount Olive will remain open.

“We are super excited that we are coming to Kinston,” Jennifer Bland said in the announcement. “We are downtown, Queen Street, right across the street from the courthouse.”

Bland said Kinston is meaningful to her family because she and Frank Bland live in Kinston, and Frank Bland’s family previously operated businesses in the city, including Land Grocery on Washington Avenue.

Brad Mitchell said the new location will allow Grounded & Baked to continue expanding while keeping its existing stores open.

“La Grange is always home for Grounded and Baked,” Mitchell said. “That’s the original location. Nothing changes for La Grange. Goldsboro stays the same. Mount Olive stays the same.”

The Kinston store will offer many of the items customers know from other Grounded & Baked locations, including cheese biscuits, cakes, cookies and doughnuts. Bland said the Kinston location also will include a full coffee bar, similar to the Mount Olive location, as well as a large seating area.

“We wanted to keep those kind of things consistent,” Bland said.

An opening date has not been announced. Mitchell said the business expects the Kinston location to open “in the next couple of months,” but a specific date has not been set.

The company is hiring for the new location and is seeking cashiers, baristas and bakers. According to a social media post from the business, Grounded & Baked is looking to hire four to five cashiers or baristas and one to two bakers.

Bland said the company wants to hire and train employees before the Kinston store opens.

“We want to have the staff fully ready and trained and ready to go the day the doors open,” Bland said.

Mitchell said applicants should send a resume to groundedandbakednc@gmail.com. The company will respond with an application and begin interviews.

“If you call us, that’s what we’re going to tell you to do,” Mitchell said. “It’s just easier to send your resume.”

The business also said it plans to create a Kinston Facebook page to share progress updates before the opening.