Cookie Chris Opens in Short Pump The smell of cookies wafts through the hot pink and electric blue storefront that is
Cookie Chris.
“We bake them fresh daily,” says Chris Knight, 19, owner and namesake of Cookie Chris.
Cookie Chris opened in Short Pump last week at 11571 W. Broad St. The shop, which sells cookies in a number of varieties, is the second brick-and-mortar location for Knight, who opened his first location in Williamsburg.
“Cookie Chris started when I was 16,” says Knight. “It started when I was [playing too many video games]. My parents told me to go outside and get off the game, and go do something.
“I’ve had a love of baking since I was young—my grandma put that into me—so I picked that back up during COVID, just baking chocolate chip, sugar, basic things. Then I started branching out doing different flavors— I think one of my first ones was Oreo—and people had said it was really good, that I could take this somewhere. So, I started selling them in school, through Instagram and Facebook online, and the Williamsburg community was really supportive. I saved up enough money for two years to [lease] my first store.”
When you could bake anything, sticking to one item and perfecting it is a classic method of differentiation.
“Cookies are my favorite dessert, and since it’s my favorite dessert, I just wanted to mess around with that,” says Knight. “My grandmother had me make all types of things, cookies, pound cake, but cookies are the one thing that stood out to me, to try to make it more creative than basic chocolate chip and sugar. Some of my specialties are the strawberry shortcake and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. The banana pudding cookie went viral.”
The cookies are sold individually or by the dozen, arranged in a custom box bearing the Cookie Chris logo. As a bonus, they’re super soft, warm out of the oven, and last for four days after purchase.
Behind the counter is a commercial kitchen where the paper plate-sized treats are made by a staff under the careful direction of Knight’s mother, Fran Knight. “We are very proud,” she said. “He keeps a 4.0 grade point average. We’re just supporting his dream. He worked every weekend and saved his money, and his business is really going somewhere.”
Knight is seeing where his new venture will take him as he plans to return to Morehouse University in Atlanta for his second year as a pre-law student studying philosophy and psychology.
“Right now, I’m letting God’s plan take its course,” Knight said. “When we started in Williamsburg, we had a lot of people from Richmond and from out of town in the tourist areas, so we decided to open in Richmond.”
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