Detroit Cookie Company
On March 21, 2022 the University of Michigan’s Spoon Chapter visited Detroit Cookie Company. As we walked into the store, we were greeted by Lauren and Tony Roumayah, who are the owners and founders of Detroit Cookie Company. They first started dating by baking cupcakes together. Lauren told us, “Cookies bring people together”. Lauren continued onto say that “in a perfect world I would just make cookies.” She clearly made her dream come true! The Story Behind Detroit Cookie Company is a great one, and we’re excited to share it with you!
The Beginning
When Lauren and Tony created Detroit Cookie Company they started with just 8 flavors. They then established a website and started an instagram. At first the journey was hard and they found it difficult to build up a following, but they didn’t give up and worked even harder. They started off by working in a shared kitchen and a few years later, they saw a blue French restaurant and fell in love with it. They were interested in leasing the building, and ended up getting a walk-through. Lucky enough for them they got the blue building, and a lot of extra supplies left behind which helped with the hefty costs of starting a bakery. After years and years of hard work, Lauren and Tony now have three Detroit Cookie Company locations. One in Grand Rapids, one in Ferndale, and one in Ann Arbor!
The Business
When asked about the most rewarding part of owning Detroit Cookie Company, Lauren told us it was her team. When they started, they only had Lauren and Tony working. Now they have three locations with tons of valuable employees! When asked about the different locations, Lauren told us that the team doesn’t have to be at every location everyday. Ferndale, where they first started, is their production site. When asked about her day to day schedule, Lauren told us that it changes everyday. She could be doing anything from emails, taking inventory, to helping in production. She said, “We play every role, the job never stops.” She explained that she never stops learning, from her team, clients, and other people in the industry.
The Cookies
The business side of Detroit Cookie Company is amazing to hear about, but the cookies are even better to eat! The initial dough recipe was the recipe Lauren and her mom used when they would bake when Lauren was little. They started with 8 basic flavors. Lauren’s favorite flavor is the Brown Butter Pecan which she made for her dad on Father’s day. They started to expand with more flavors based on what the customers liked and what is in season. They even started making other desserts such as blondies. There are the same flavors of cookies at each location. When asked about their most successful location, Lauren said the Ferndale store is the most successful and flagship store. She said this was because of the location.
The Future
When asked about their 5 year plan, Lauren said she wishes for a bigger warehouse, 50 franchises across the US, and make it easy for more franchises to open. They expect to do this by growing sales with their social media presence. They post five times a day, engage with followers, and wants their post to be the first thing you see in the morning.Our meeting at Detroit Cookie Company was definitely a success, and were so excited to eat more of their cookies in the future!