Biz Buzz: Local cookie shop owners looking to expand after first year of business

Published at 3:45 pm, September 5, 2018 | Updated at 11:00 am, February 10, 2021

Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews.com

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready ...

The photo and video above were provided by The Cookie Place.

Do you want to know what’s happening on the east Idaho business scene? We’ve got you covered.

Here is a rundown of this week’s business news across the valley.

BIZ BRIEF

REXBURG

The Cookie Place celebrates anniversary

REXBURG – When Garth and Amy Romrell opened a cookie shop in Rexburg last year, they never dreamed it would be as popular as it is.

Since opening in August 2017, The Cookie Place has grown to include a second location in Idaho Falls, and plans to start shipping around the country in the future.

Amy Romrell tells EastIdahoNews.com she grew up cooking with her mother and had dreamed for years of opening a bakery.

“My mom was always an amazing baker,” Amy Romrell says. “I’ve been an elementary school teacher and worked in the direct sales industry for about 13 years, but the bakery idea was always in the back of my mind. I love the atmosphere. People are always excited to come in and happy when they leave.”

The decision to open the business was ultimately a matter of timing, Amy says. Once their son was out of the house, she and her husband wanted to pursue a project together. When a location opened up in Rexburg, they decided to open a cookie shop.

“Cookies work really well in a mobile society. People like to take things on the run and cookies are a great treat to have on the run,” Amy says. “People want that homemade freshness but they don’t have the time to do it.”

Romrell says The Cookie Place makes true, genuine gourmet cookies, which means they use real ingredients — real butter, real eggs — not hydrogenated oils, margarine or shortening. Their cookies are made fresh everyday and they never freeze their dough.

“We have hundreds of people telling us on social media and when they come in our cookies are the best they’ve ever tasted,” Garth Romrell says. “We pay a lot of attention to the development of the cookie, the consistency of the cookie and we put a lot of money into the cookie that really makes it superior.”

The Cookie Place offers six different flavors, including chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, oatmeal chocolate chip, snickerdoodles, chocolate peanut butter chip and frosted sugar cookies.

“Our cookies are traditional flavors. It’s hard to find a traditional oatmeal raisin cookie around, for example. People love the traditional flavors they grew up with,” Amy Romrell says.

The Cookie Place is located at 24 West 1st South in Rexburg, next to Little Caesar’s. They’re open Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. The Idaho Falls store opened in December at 2087 East 17th inside the Teton Village shopping plaza. The Idaho Falls store is open 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

The Romrells say they’ll be launching an online shipping option soon and are looking in to opening a third location as well.

“We’re grateful for our loyal customers and the excitement they have brought to The Cookie Place over this last year,” Amy Romrell says. “We’re happy to fill a need in the market that people are excited about.”

To learn more, visit The Cookie Place on Facebook. You can also visit their website.

BIZ BITS

Local business awards over 100 academic scholarships

POCATELLO – Amy’s Kitchen recently awarded 112 academic scholarships to local employees’ college-bound children. The scholarships were presented to the children of Pocatello facility employees at a community awards ceremony on August 15 hosted by Andy Berliner, Amy’s Kitchen CEO and Co-founder.

TECH TALK

New technology improves hydrogen manufacturing

IDAHO FALLS — Industrial hydrogen is closer to being produced more efficiently, thanks to findings outlined in a new paper published by Idaho National Laboratory researchers. In the paper, Dr. Dong Ding and his colleagues detailed advances in the production of hydrogen, which is used in oil refining, petrochemical manufacturing and as an eco-friendly fuel for transportation. READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

COMMUNITY CAUSES

You’re invited to remember 9/11 and support first responders during fundraising event

IDAHO FALLS – Where were you on September 11, 2001? Those who are old enough to remember the events of that day can recall exactly where they were when they heard the news of a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. The impact of that news was felt nationwide and right here in eastern Idaho. Now one group is organizing a fundraiser in Idaho Falls this weekend to help people remember. READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

Local student wants your help supporting refugees

REXBURG – Aaron Frazier, a student at Brigham Young University-Idaho, is inviting you to “Run for a Refugee” Saturday, October 13. The 5K race kicks off at 10 a.m. at the east entrance of the Rexburg Nature Park. Tickets are $10 and come with a T-shirt. All the proceeds will benefit the CSI Refugee Center in Twin Falls. To register or to learn more, visit the Facebook page. EastIdahoNews.com will post an article soon.

BIZ BUGS

TOPIC: TICKET SCAMS

The following is a news release from the Better Business Bureau.

According to the Better Business Bureau Scam Tracker, football fans reported losing nearly $4,000 to scams last year. The most common scams around football include reselling fake or non-existent tickets through online classifieds, counterfeit merchandise, price gouging, ticket scalping and scammers who use bots to buy thousands of tickets and resell them at inflated prices.

Whether you’re cheering for Boise State, Brigham Young University, Utah State or your favorite NFL team, the BBB advises fans to follow this advice when purchasing tickets:

Pay with protection. Paying with a credit card offers consumers protection if scammed. The credit card company may be able to help obtain a refund if the tickets are fake. Be wary of online sellers that ask to wire money and don’t accept credit cards.
Verify the tickets. To check the authenticity of tickets, ask for a copy of the seller’s invoice or purchasing receipt to check where the seller bought the tickets. It’s also recommended to contact the original promoter directly.
Check out the seller/broker. Before you decide to purchase tickets on other sites, be sure to look the seller up on bbb.org. Secure, legal sites for second-hand purchases include BBB Accredited businesses SeatGeek and Vivid Seats. These sites guarantee their consumers and sellers a secure transaction. It’s also wise to check if the seller is a member of the National Association of Ticket Brokers. NATB members offer a 200 percent purchase guarantee on tickets.
Look for secure sites. The website should begin with https (the ”s” is for secure) and include a lock symbol on the address bar. Also check the official website for a phone number, physical address and email address. Be wary of sites that rely on a contact form instead of offering a customer service phone number. Contact forms make it hard to reach someone from the company.
Shop local. If you’re searching for ticket bargains on classified sites and apps such as Craigslist, eBay Classifieds, OfferUp and Letgo, it’s wise to meet sellers in person in a safe, public place.

If you believe you are the victim of a scam, report it to BBB Scam Tracker. For more information, CLICK HERE.