A Company History by Eileen
Eileen's Colossal Cookies began in my home in Hastings, Nebraska in April of 1982. I had taken a cake decorating class with the intent of making cakes for my children's birthdays. After seeing a shop in Omaha with decorated cookies, I decided to try baking and selling decorated cookies instead of cakes. I ran newspaper ads about the decorated cookies and also established a route that I took plain 6" cookies to on a daily basis (places like 7 Eleven, etc). Since I was working out of my home, I knew I needed an innovative way to promote my business. So I offered free delivery and I also offered delivery dressed in the Cookie Monster costume. To my surprise, this was equally as popular with the adults as it was with the children!
After baking, decorating and selling big cookies in a kitchen in my basement for a year and a half, I opened my first store in downtown Hastings on October 1, 1983. Because of excellent quality and a reasonable price for a product much in demand, Eileen's Colossal Cookies has been a very successful business. In April of 1987 I opened a shop in Grand Island and in May of 1991 in Kearney.
It wasn't long and I was receiving calls from people who wanted to buy a franchise. Eileen's Colossal Cookies now has franchise locations throughout the Midwest. My two sons, Gabe and Tony, are both part of the business. Gabe joined the business in 2009, and oversees the operations of our corporate stores, as well as the financial aspects of the company. Tony joined Eileen's Cookies in 2006. He is the franchise director, and also handles the supply chain for the entire company.
Click here to view a list of all our locations!
Even though there are some differences in our shops, one thing is always the same -- our Quality!!
