As the hours inch closer to Friday, the anticipation continues to build for Crumbl Cookies franchise partner Chasen Tolbert.
Odessa’s Crumbl Cookies is scheduled to have its grand opening at 8 a.m. Friday. The location is 4925 E 42nd St., Suite C.
Tolbert, who also owns the Midland Crumbl Cookies with Jordan Sorensen, said he’s excited to open another Crumbl Cookies in West Texas.
“Even as we were renovating, we have people come and check the door all the time,” Tolbert said. “… People who know what Crumbl is are really excited. I think it’s going to be really well received.”
Tolbert said he earned a wealth of knowledge from last year’s opening in Midland.
Tolbert said he was working 20-hour days in the first couple of weeks after opening the Midland location on June 28, 2021.
The Midland location has continued to stay busy after its grand opening, Tolbert said. He also believes the Odessa and Midland locations will be far enough apart that they won’t encroach on each other’s business.
“It’s far enough away that I don’t know if we will cannibalize off the other store,” Tolbert said. “We have people coming from Odessa all the time to Midland, but I don’t know that it will not be busy over there. I think it’s going to make it more accessible for the people in Odessa.”
Crumbl Cookies, which originally began in Utah, has more than 300 bakeries in 36 states nationwide.
Tolbert said what sets Crumbl Cookies apart from other sweet shops is the weekly rotating menu. He said he knows about a month out what cookies are going to be featured every week.
“We want to get our ingredients squared away and some of those ingredients are perishable,” Tolbert said. “We have to be very on top of the inventory game. It’s not just keeping up with demand, but it’s keeping up with inventory.”
This week features milk chocolate chip, lemon cupcake, double fudge brownie, chocolate toffee cake, frosted strawberry pop-tarts and peanut butter mystery cookie.
Other weeks have featured s’mores, apple pie, blue raspberry featuring ICEE, rocky road and birthday cake.
Tolbert said one of the most popular cookies in Texas is the cornbread cookie. The cookie has honey butter glaze, topped with a dollop of thick honey buttercream frosting and a decorative drizzle of honey.
“It’s definitely a good problem to have,” Tolbert said about the weekly rotating menu. “We stress over it sometimes, because it would be so much easier to have a set menu, but the reason that people come back is because their favorite flavor came back or something new that they want to try. It’s great for business and sometimes stressful on our end. We wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Crumbl Cookies will employ about 60 people at the Odessa location and Tolbert said some of the staff that worked at the Midland store live in Odessa and will work at the Odessa location now.
Tolbert said there are about 10 to 15 people working all the time in Midland and that will be about the same for the Odessa location.
“When we opened last year, we didn’t know what to expect,” Tolbert said. “This year we have our ducks in a row and have experienced people and people that live here that worked at the Midland store.”
