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This national cookie shop is expanding to Fresno. Here’s why we’re having a cookie boom

The Fresno Bee – June 16, 2021
Crumbl Cookies is planning to open a location in Fresno, in addition to its existing location in Clovis.

Crumbl Cookies is coming to Fresno.

The national franchise is planning to open a location in the Villaggio shopping center at Blackstone and Nees avenues. That’s the center with Barnes & Noble — and the Crumbl bakery will be next to Coldstone Creamery.

It’s aiming for a June 30th opening.

Crumbl opened a location in Clovis last summer, at the southeast corner of Herndon and Fowler avenues.

It sells cookies — big ones that sell for $4 each — at the Clovis location.

These are not your average-sized cookies a home baker would make. “They’re big. I have a hard time eating one in one sitting,” said Nancy Tilby, who owns Crumbl Cookies in Fresno and Clovis.

Warm chocolate chip cookies are always on the menu, along with a rotating handful of other flavors. The soft chilled sugar cookie with pink frosting frequently makes an appearance, but there’s also red velvet, banana cream pie and a dirt cake cookie with OREO crumbles and a gummy worm on top.

Crumbl also carries ice cream.

WHERE ELSE TO GET COOKIES?

There’s a lot going on in Fresno’s cookie scene lately.

Regular Bee readers probably already know that Crave Cookie, known for selling warm cookies, opened a drive-thru and walk-in location in northwest Fresno. It’s in the Marketplace at El Paseo, the shopping center with Target near Highway 99 and Herndon Avenue. Crave Cookie is in an outbuilding near Riverside Drive, a few doors down from Robertito’s.

The cookie company got its start doing deliveries and still does them.

A Clovis location is in the works for the northeast corner of Tollhouse and Sunnyside avenues, near the Peacock Market.

Crumbl Cookies also is big on bringing the cookies to you, offering delivery, shipping across the U.S., and curbside pickup. Both companies offer large catering orders too.

The bakeries join two longtime locally-owned cookie makers, Hungry Bear Cookies and Doug-Out Cookies.

Doug-Out recently moved from its location of 24 years to the food court at Fashion Fair mall.

WHY THE COOKIE BOOM?

All the cookie places seem to be flourishing now.

The owners have several reasons why.

“During the pandemic, people were trying to find something cheerful that made them happy,” said Tilby of Crumbl’s cookies.

The business also does a lot of gift orders.

And as for Crave Cookie, owner Shandi Scrivner thinks cookies delivered to your door is a natural extension of pizza delivered to your door. Deliveries in general have skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I guess people are excited about dessert delivery,” she said. “They’ve had food delivery and now they’re able to get desserts.”