Photo courtesy of Cheryl & Co.
(Butter)cream of the Crop
Cheryl has a brand-new Westerville store to sell cookies
Cheryl & Co., the company most of us know as Cheryl’s Cookies, has long been based in Westerville.
But despite the company’s size and scope, its retail location here, for quite some time, left much to be desired. It was in a conference room in the company’s corporate office.
“We were at the point where we couldn’t make enough cookies to meet customers’ needs,” says Pam Casto, director of retail operations for Cheryl & Co. “And the store is small. We really outgrew the space.”
That all changed Aug. 8, when the company opened a new flagship store right next to its corporate office.
“We have a new, beautiful location, and we’re really upping the ante on our retail store,” says Casto.
In addition to the sales floor, the new store also includes a 300-square-foot party room. A party package is being developed to provide clients with highly customizable celebrations for children as well as adults.
“We’ll be able to really work with the host of a party to host a unique event,” says Sheila Howell, vice president of marketing.
The party room can hold as many as 20 people, and a cafe area is right outside for parents or others who may wish to observe festivities from a distance.
Howell and Casto are both very excited about the new store’s aesthetic as well.
“The colors here are similar to our other stores, but we brought it back to a really nice warm feeling,” says Casto.
The flagship store also features an expanded range of products previously only available online. That means more options than a customer will find at other retail locations
“We have a large variety of gifts available on the web, and because of size constraints, we haven’t been able to sell them at our other stores,” says Casto. “This will give local customers access to some of those products.”
In addition to the flagship store, a new production facility opened in October 2014 and has helped the company increase its production efficiency.
“They doubled baking room size and were able to create better flow. The extra space really made efficiency increase dramatically,” says Casto. “And (there’s) storage for all the components we require to make the products. I think efficiency is really the biggest benefit from the new facility.”
The new production facility is increasing output, and the company hopes it will make it possible to hire more people as well.
In addition to the new production facility and flagship store, Cheryl & Co. is also working on a new gluten-free line to be released this fall.
Athnie McMillan-Comeaux is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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