PRINTCoMo cookie craze
Late night dining just got sweeter
Courtesy of Hot Box Cookies
September 25, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Right when you thought Columbia couldn’t get any sweeter, three cookie monsters have moved onto Broadway. MU juniors Corey Rimmel, Adam Hendin and David Melnick are the brains behind one of downtown’s latest additions: Hot Box Cookies.
Hot Box Cookies, which the friends refer to as the Coldstone of cookies, is set to open early- to mid-October. Afternoon hours accomodate walk-ins and businesses, who can order sweet treats to cater meetings with only 24-hours’ notice. Late hours will compete with the popular pizza or El Rancho cravings that hit around bar closing time.
The store offers a wide array of cookies; customers will be able to pick the type of cookie dough (peanut butter, oatmeal, sugar or chocolate) and a variety of additional ingredients, such as Reese’s Pieces, raisins and Oreo crumbs. After making their custom order, either in person or by phone, customers can stick around for 10 to 15 minutes while the cookies bake or have the hot treats delivered.
This business idea all began when a friend introduced Rimmel to a cookie delivery shop during a visit to
Indiana University. Operations like the one in Bloomington, Ind., have been popping up in other cities across the nation as business owners attempt to capitalize on sweet tooths.
The friends don’t seem concerned with the sacrifices their social and academic lives might suffer. In order to run their new business, they will hire approximately 15 employees, and an owner will be on-site during all business hours. “Everyone’s got to grow up sometime,” Hendin says. “This is an opportunity we have, so why would we pass it up?” Rimmel says the business has become their top priority, and his class schedule has begun to reflect that; fewer credit hours and an online class make more room in his schedule.
With such a sweet concept, these big dreamers have high hopes for success. Rimmel says most other college kids will be looking for a job when they graduate, but his dream is to be planning the next Hot Box Cookies location.
Hours (beginning early October):
Mon. – Wed. 4 p.m. – 1 a.m.
Thurs. – Fri. 4 p.m. – 2:30 a.m.
Sat. 12 p.m. – 2:30 a.m.
Sun. 12 p.m. – 1 a.m.
Where: 808B E. Broadway
Call: 777-8269
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