Overview
Since our launch in 2014, we have been essentially cookie nomads traveling from pop up to pop up. We bring our cookies to farmers markets, breweries, offices, basically anywhere that will have us. Because of this, we have been able to secure wholesale accounts and increase our e-commerce business with our wildly successful cookie of the month subscription. We work out of a shared commercial kitchen space for 40+ businesses in Boston, MA.
The Solution
It's time for us to establish our first brick and mortar. It's time for Top Shelf Cookies to seek out some shelter where we can solidify brand recognition, centralize our operations, set up a physical location where our cookies can be found daily, and have a larger kitchen that will us to be more creative and offer some of our most popular flavors STRAIGHT OUT OF THE OVEN! The daily revenue will allow us to hire a few employees full time and create some jobs in the city of Boston.
Why Top Shelf Cookies?
We are a craft cookie company with a uniquely Boston feel to it. We appeal to locals and tourists with our Boston-inspired flavors of cookies. We have spent nearly six years learning about our process, developing flavors, hearing feedback, and learning about our customers. Our online sales have grown substantially in the last six months, along with our corporate gifting and catering.
Cookies are a timeless treat and portion-controlled as well, so it's something people can feel good about enjoying for themselves or a crowd. We've already learned our product appeals to folks that work in the area and we know from hearing from our customers that they would come find us at our location.
Q&A with Founder Heather Yunger
What's Your Favorite Top Shelf Flavor?
Black & Gold - it's my firstborn
What's your favorite thing to do in Boston?
Patriot's Day - Best day to be a Bostonian. Get up early, have some brews and bites with good friends, hit the Red Sox game, get out cheer on marathoners (around that time it's regular people - so it's pretty cool to cheer them on!) and if the sports gods are great, head over the Bruins playoff game.
What's the thing you most appreciate in your life?
I'm so lucky to be able to follow my dream and run a cookie business. Mostly nobody gets mad at me (I have cookies) I get to be creative with cookies. I get to honor the city I love with cookies. I spend most of my days in Boston with cookies. I get to create jobs in a neighborhood in Boston that needs it. I have an awesome co-worker in Brady (Chief Dog Officer) and I love the team that works for Top Shelf Cookies and the production team that works with us out of CommonWealth Kitchen. Being a small business owner is challenging, but my worst day owning Top Shelf Cookies is far superior to my best day in a cubicle.
What's your favorite Boston sports memory?
June 15, 2011 - Bruins win the Cup. I was in the Fours (shocker) with a lot of my close friends. I loved that team, there was a lot to like about them. Beating Montreal (after being down 2-0), sweeping the Flyers after being embarrassed by them the year before, one of the best series of hockey I had ever seen up until that point vs Tampa, then to just go in and play the arrogant Canucks and play their game and be so focused. It was awesome to enjoy that for 2 months and during that time, I figured out what I wanted to do when I grew up.
When people come to you for help, what do they usually want help with?
That's a good question and a hard one (and I came up with these!) Right now, I try to work with a lot of new bakers at CommonWealth Kitchen to help them figure out how to best get started. I was lucky enough to have people help me and I believe in paying it forward
