After the success of Jake’s Ice Cream in Falls Church, a new shop has recently “popped” up with the same values and heart. 

Located in the Seven Corners Shopping Center, Jake’s Gourmet Popcorn offers various flavors of sweet, salty and savory popcorn. Similar to Jake’s Ice Cream, the popcorn shop is staffed by differently-abled adults, giving them an opportunity to work and grow as individuals. 

“They’re gaining an actual job-world social experience,” Jake’s Ice Cream and Gourmet Popcorn’s joint owner Robin Rinearson said. “A lot of these young adults want to be able to live independently and they are demonstrating the capability of being able to do that.” 

The idea behind Jake’s Gourmet Popcorn began with Rinearson’s desire to open a second ice cream shop to grow the business and make the creamy treats in larger quantities. After learning about the possible rent increase at the original ice cream shop’s location due to placing a new ice cream shop somewhere else, Rinearson said selling popcorn came to her while reflecting on her time at graduate school in Chicago and enjoying the multiple popcorn shops on “every third corner.” 

“I thought, ‘You know what? I think I could probably train people with disabilities how to do this,’” Rinearson said. 

Opening in early August, Jake’s Gourmet Popcorn offers 30 different flavors of the puffed snack, such as caramel, movie theater, ranch and more. Ribearson and four of her staff learned how to make the popcorn and ways to try out different flavors. 

“We do encourage people to taste stuff because we want them to go home with something that they love,” Ribearson said. “It’s fun because people come in and ask [the staff] what their favorite flavors are and they make recommendations.” 

Both the ice cream and popcorn shop have employees who have physical and intellectual disabilities, something that Ribearson said she wanted to promote at both businesses due to her own nephew Jake, who has cerebral palsy, losing his job during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“I understand the frustration of families trying to find jobs for their adult children because jobs for people with disabilities are scarce,” Ribearson said. “It bothers me that the general public looks at somebody with disabilities as being ‘other’ or ‘incapable.’”

Ice cream and popcorn are also things Ribearson said she feels she can teach employees with a disability how to make and serve the treats, due to the amount of repetition it takes and the workers not minding doing the same thing each day. 

“The nice thing about most of these people who are not neurotypical is that they’re delighted to be at work,” Ribearson said. “They are willing to do the work and what needs to happen in order to keep the business afloat.” 

Two of the popcorn shop’s employees Justin Serene and Janmari Hallahan both said their jobs are “rewarding” and “helpful.”

“We’re providing opportunities for individuals with disabilities,” Serene, who is an assistant manager at the popcorn shop, said. “They get hands-on experience.” 

“It’s a very good place to work,” Hallahan said. “I love it a lot.” 

Since the popcorn shop has opened, Ribearson said the local public has been accepting due to their visits to and knowledge of the ice cream shop. By the time next August comes around, marking a year since the business opened, Ribearson said she hopes it will be “independently functioning.” 

“I will try to modify whatever people are doing to try to make them as independent as possible,” Ribearson said. “For most people with disabilities, it’s a job for life.”