Suzanne Soriero is new proprietor of Janns’ Sweet Shoppe
By John Tredrea
Editor’s note: This is the latest in a series of portraits of people at work in Hopewell Valley.
Eight years ago, 16-year-old Suzanne Soriero took her first job at Janns’ Sweet Shoppe at 155 W. Delaware Ave., in Penningon.
When she arrived, Janns’ had already long since established itself as one of the best known and most frequently patronized businesses in the Valley, literally part of its social fabric. Everybody went there toddlers, teenagers and adults of all ages. They still do.
Right away, Ms. Soriero really liked working at Janns’. She still does, which figures. She’s very sociable and obviously has energy to spare. That’s good. This is a workplace where you deal with many, many people customers and co-workers and must go, go, go to get everything done. "You never really leave Janns’," Ms. Soriero, now 24, said Wednesday morning. "There’s a bond between people who work here. Once you work here, you always have a job here."
Ms. Soriero, an upbeat young woman who seems to be smiling whenever she speaks, owns Janns’ now, with her parents Sam and Phyllis Soriero of Washington Crossing. Pa.
"I always knew that, career-wise, I wanted to be my own boss," she said. "So this is great for me. It’s very busy, especially at this time of year. I’m here all day, every day. It’s really the only job I’ve ever had."
Janns’ is open seven days a week for long hours. Among other offerings, it has 32 different flavors of ice cream. The mainstays are always there vanilla, chocolate, etc. while the other flavors change on a daily basis. Sounding well-worth trying, for example, chocolate cherry crunch and banana peanut butter. All the ice cream sold at Janns’ is made at Janns’ and they sell plenty of it.
"Praline pecan has always been my favorite since I started working here," Ms. Soriero said. "It’s just so good! We the people who work here make up our own flavors. Customers give us ideas for some of them."
Ms. Soriero, who lives in Pennington, grew up in Lawrence and went to The Hun School of Princeton. She graduated from Susquehanna University with a degree in art history. When not working that doesn’t happen very often she does oil paintings. "I like to do abstract patterns," she said. "I hang some of them on my walls."
When she came home from Susquehanna for a weekend, she’d routinely call Ed Gola the former owner from whom the Sorieros bought Janns’ and ask: "Can I work this weekend?" And he’d say sure. She says this arrangement was very typical among many people who have worked at the shop. "It was by calling Ed that I found out the place was for sale," she said. "I was working as an assistant human resources director for a company in Philadelphia and decided to make the move here. It’s like coming home, except that I never really left it. This place means a lot to me. It’s like family. The people who have worked here are close to one another. And we have many, many regular customers. A lot of them are kids. Kids are fun, and they sure love ice cream. They are happy when they are here! It’s nice to see, nice to be a part of that. We get to make their faces light up."
Janns’ has two sections, separated by a partition with a door. One side sells ice cream, the other candy. Everything on the ice cream side is homemade the ice cream, cookies and cakes. There are all kinds of sundaes, splits and shakes, hot and cold drinks, greeting cards, mugs and other gifts. Ice cream cakes and pies can be decorated to order for birthdays and other occasions.
Coming soon is a new choice: the cookie cake. "It’s an item some of the girls here and I came up with," Ms. Soriero said. "We’ll have fruit smoothies this summer, too." If you’re throwing a party, Janns’ can give you an ice cream cart. "Make your own sundaes," Ms. Soriero said. "It has the toppings and flavors of ice cream you want."
On the candy side, there are all sorts of candy chocolate, gummies and others.
The shop has a homey, neighborhood feel that seems to evoke another time. You can sit down at wooden tables inside large wooden stalls, or on benches next to big pots of red flowers out front. People are in a good mood here, on both sides of the counter.
"I’m very fortunate," Ms. Soriero said, looking around. "I always wanted to stay where I started out, and now I’ve been able to do it."

