The grand opening of Lion Cub's Cookies in Grandview Heights on Wednesday represents the next step in the evolution of Brad Kaplan's business and culinary aspirations.
Kaplan, a civil engineer, started baking and selling cookies from his home three years ago, and he built a strong following. The Columbus man opened pop-ups at the North Market and then started delivery through a ghost kitchen, with sales exceeding 8,000 cookies per month, a spokesperson said.
He now has a store at 1261 Grandview Ave. in the space formerly occupied by Peabody Papers.
Lion Cub's is known for serving extra-thick cookies in popular flavors like chocolate chip and peanut butter, but also makes cookies with bits of classic candies and breakfast cereals such as Lucky Charms, M&Ms and Reese's Pieces
With the brick and mortar store, Kaplan envisions a bakery akin to Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams: a business that establishes itself as a local staple before ultimately spreading to other regions.
Kaplan hopes to quadruple cookie production with the new bakery.
Curiosity led Kaplan into the baking business. He began cooking as a small child, but never gave cookies much thought.
"I was a pretty stereotypical guy," he said. "I made steak and potatoes-type stuff."
And then several years ago, he found himself craving a pumpkin pie-flavored cookie and came up with a recipe.
"I made a bunch and took them to my mom's house for Thanksgiving, and I ended up eating just an insane amount of them," he said.
From there he was hooked, Kaplan said. Through an inclination to experiment; he ended up baking more flavors of cookies, lighting the creative spark that eventually gave way to his bakery.
He took a childhood nickname his father gave him, and Lion Cub's Cookies was born.
Kaplan organized six pop-ups at the North Market in a three-month span in late 2019, and his product caught on with customers.
"Even in those early days, we had lines that were an hour-and-a-half long," he said. "That's when I thought, 'This idea has some wheels.'"
Then COVID-19 struck and Kaplan shifted his business model, securing space in a ghost kitchen called the Food Fort near Downtown. The bakery started delivering cookies in the spring of 2020, and Kaplan said business took off around June.
Loyal patrons appreciated the service, but the delivery area was limited, and customers constantly inquired about picking up from the store rather than ordering delivery.
"I said it's just not feasible where we are," Kaplan said.
The Food Fort is located in an industrial complex surrounded by barbed wire fences with limited access.
"At that point we were outgrowing our space, and it was time to start looking for my own location," Kaplan said.
The original idea was to build another ghost kitchen, but Kaplan's success eventually gave him the idea to open a storefront. He pulled the trigger on a physical store after finding a space on Grandview Avenue.
The delivery and carryout boom brought on by the COVID pandemic put the emphasis squarely on providing a product that could remain fresh through a 20-minute car ride. Kaplan says he has systems in place to deliver quickly and sells a product that travels well, but cookies purchased at a physical bakery always will beat those sold through a delivery service.
"This is how we always meant it to be served," he said.
pcooley@dispatch.com
@PatrickACooley
The Link LonkJune 24, 2021 at 01:03AM
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Lion Cub's Cookies opens on Grandview Avenue - The Columbus Dispatch
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