 Robbin Thomas |
Robbin Thomas started her business with a recipe for success, and it’s a sweet deal for customers of every age and interest. The incredibly edible bouquets made in her Charleston Cookies by Design kitchen have been pleasing people for over four years.
Cookies by Design is a national franchise, and Robbin worked for five years at a store operated by relatives in her home city of Dayton. “But, I decided I wanted my own business and started looking for a place. The Charleston franchise had only been open for about a year, but it was for sale. We took over the loan and location and haven’t looked back.”
A graduate of the “cookie college” required by all Cookie by Design franchisees, Robbin does all the cookie decorating. She combines whimsy, artistry and precision to meet the needs of her cookie clientele. Her repertoire includes the hundreds of cookie designs that are standard choices at all Cookies by Design and she is happy to make special designs at the customer’s request. Disney and cartoon characters are frequent choices for children’s events and Cookies by Design is legally licensed to feature favorites like Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger or Garfield.
Still, Robbin says, “Our biggest customers are in business. We make most of our cookies for commercial customers who want to recognize employees, thank clients, or celebrate an opening or some other special event. ” She says, “A cookie bouquet makes a memorable, unique gift for a special customer, and the giant pan cookies solve the gift giving dilemma for businesses that want to recognize a group, like to thank everyone in accounting or send congratulations to the inside sales department. Everyone appreciates a cookie. And, we’ll deliver, too.”
Businesses often choose Cookies by Design to customize their appreciation, sending a theme bouquet of cookies that includes at least one cookie with the company logo. Robbin says she takes “great pleasure in making each cookie look as delightful as it tastes.”
The cookies are completely handmade, from mixing the dough and icing to baking and hand decorating each one individually. “We use the same ingredients a homemaker would, just more of them, since we use a 60 quart mixer.” Her typical weekly shopping list during December includes 100 pounds of flour, six 25-pound bags of confectioner’s sugar, three cases of butter, 15 dozen eggs and “about 20 pounds of chocolate chips.” Beside the elaborately decorated iced cookies, Robbins offers eleven different gourmet cookies in boxes or baskets, from snicker doodles to lemonade cookies. “White chocolate chip and peanut butter are big sellers, and for those that just can’t decide, we make millionaires, with chocolate chips, Hershey bars, pecans and oats.”
Like a florist, Robbin offers a bouquet for every budget, from the cheerful 1-3 cookie mug to an elegant nine-cookie arrangement. “Men may be embarrassed by flowers, but they like cookies, so I’ve made police bouquets that have cookies decorated with badges and bears in uniform, firemen’s bouquets with the fireman’s hat, fire truck and even a Dalmatian, and hunter’s bouquets with bears in camouflage. We make cookies featuring every sport, from NASCAR and football to skateboarding.” She is especially proud of the holiday cookies. “The red, pink and yellow poinsettias are really beautiful and the winter scenes with pine trees and windows dusted with confectioners ‘snow’ are almost too pretty to eat. The snow men are cute and I dress each one a little differently.”
Robbin’s husband Shannon shares her consuming passion. She says, “He does all the mixing and baking. I decorate and take care of customers.” The kitchen is in a 1300 sq. ft. shop with displays of over thirty edible arrangements. “People can order here, on the phone, from our catalog or online from the Charleston page of cookiesbydesign.com. We need a day’s notice for each order.” Robbin says they stay till the orders are complete. “During the holidays, sometimes we’ve stayed here all night.”
Cookie making is very labor intensive, so Shannon says they can’t spend as much time marketing the business as they would like. “But, we offer and encourage gift certificates from Cookies by Design. We call them ‘Cookie Dough’!”
Cookies by Design, 4216 MacCorkle Avenue, Charleston, is open 8-6, Monday thru Friday and 10–2 on Saturday. For more information, call 304-926-1040 or (toll-free) 877-542-6693.
