Do any of you have an actual cookie shop/store/boutique? Since the cookies I make are more of an order a head of time type product, is an actual store a good idea?
you really have to sell a LOT of cookies to just pay the rent on a storefront.
Before you do anything, if you are serious, you need to write a business plan. There are clases that teach you how to do this, and usually volunteers retired from business can help.
If you have a legal kitchen, you can try selling your cookies to another kind for store for re-sale, or set up a corner to sell your goods. however, people generally don't want to pay what they are worth
I agree in that I think it might be difficult to make the rent if you depend on selling a cookie at a time or a dozen at a time to walk ins. I would recommend you try to find those corporate accounts where you'd have a standing order everyday or every week. I cite my car dealership that uses 300 cookies (26 dozen) a day ....every day. Even at the ridiculous low price I gave them for high volume, the monthly check I get from just this one account pays my rent and all of my utilities.
On the cake side, the money is in wedding cakes because of the number-of-servings-volume. It works the same in cookies ..... orders that are consistent and high volume.
When you do your biz plan and you see the numbers, I'd break it down to how many cookies you'd have to sell per minute, per hour, per day to meet the breakeven point.
OMG debi, that's amazing!! gosh how much do their cars cost?!?!?!? what are they doing with the cookies?
that's great advice. I've got one corporate account now, looking for others
OMG debi, that's amazing!! gosh how much do their cars cost?!?!?!? what are they doing with the cookies?
that's great advice. I've got one corporate account now, looking for others
They put them in the customer lounge for customers who are waiting on paperwork, waiting for an oil change, etc.
It's a Cadillac dealership. (need I say more?) 4 locations. Not limited to expensive cars ..... I am also working on getting their 3 Saturn locations.
But ..... LOTS of dealerships put out snacks for their customer lounge. Find them. Take them samples. Leave your card.
omg i never even thought about that debi-you must be working around the clock to make that many cookies everyday-do you have any staff or is it something you can manage yourself? and how many doz would be realistic for a beginner?(love the car idea-i mostly have cake orders but want to expand a bit with cookies-i LOVE the many ways to do them) people i think love the decoration and appreciate the time but still don't necessarily want to pay the price gotta find someone who could use some nice snacks...what kinds of cookies do you do debi?
omg i never even thought about that debi-you must be working around the clock to make that many cookies everyday-do you have any staff or is it something you can manage yourself? and how many doz would be realistic for a beginner?(love the car idea-i mostly have cake orders but want to expand a bit with cookies-i LOVE the many ways to do them) people i think love the decoration and appreciate the time but still don't necessarily want to pay the price gotta find someone who could use some nice snacks...what kinds of cookies do you do debi?
They are drop cookies, not decorated ones .... choc chops, snickerdoodles, etc. If I have to mix the dough on baking day, it takes me about 3 hours (20 qt mixer ---- 8 baking shelves in a convection oven). I can get 40 cookies on a 18x24 baking sheet and can bake 8 sheets at one time.
I have 5 teenage girls come in twice a week to make cookie dough balls and stock my freezer. So when I pull from the freezer inventory, it takes me only about 30 minutes baking time. Once I get the 8-10 trays of cookies on my bakers rack, I roll it into my refrigerator to speed up the cooling so I can box them up. Or I bake them in the morning and let them sit, then box them up in the afternoon.
Geez, Debi, when do you sleep? Or should I say Do you sleep? You're always on the go!
Thanks for the info on your production line of cookie baking. I'm going to be buying a speed rack before the holiday season, and it sounds like you have just the system I need to keep all my "kids" full of cookies.
Theresa
Because of indydebi, I just started adding drop cookies to my menu. I had my first order pick up last night and the response was great! So far I have chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, and peanut butter. I also make biscotti, but am still tweaking those recipes. Car dealers here I come!
What about the Flour Pot? They have a retail location and are only doing cookies. Now I know that is hard to do, gotta get a good custmer base first, but it is possible. Oh, and Cookies By Design too. You gotta find your niche, do it well, and pray!
How does Flour Pot Cookies do it? I know that they offer parties in their shop, maybe that is the way they use their space. Has anyone ever visited their shop. I have email them a couple of times asking questions about what they have and they never reply. I find their customer service to be lacking.
debi, i see lots of discussion on how much to charge for decorated cookies. How do you charge for drop cookies compared to decorated cookies?
There is a cookie shop in a strip mall near me that sells the fancy decorated cookies. They have been open for years and only sell individual cookies, brownies and cookie boutiques. Iâve also seen their personalized cookies at weddings and baby showers. So a cookie only shop is feasible, but like indydebi said, figure out how many cookies you would have to sell to support your store front and pay yourself a decent wage.
We have "Cookies By George" in BC, AB, SK, MB and ON. AWESOME cookies! and they are usually sold out by the end of the day. They have 2 or 3 locations here in Calgary. And if you want to send a cookies boquet (whatever) on Valentine's day, you had better order it 2 weeks in advance. THAT's how good they are!!! Sure, they are expensive, but MAN they are worth it! And you pay an arm and a leg for the cute little boxes that they put them into which you can buy at the dollar store for a buck or two. Ridiculous!!! But they make massive amounts of money! for some good ideas, check them out http://www.cookiesbygeorge.com/index.html
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