The chocolate-covered strawberry cookie made for Valentine’s Day from Lion Cub’s Cookies. Credit: Courtesy of Bradley Kaplan
Later this spring, the comfort of mom’s baking will be available to customers at the first Lion Cub’s Cookies storefront, located in Grandview.
Lion Cub’s Cookies, a shop that sells distinguishably large cookies in a multitude of flavors, is in the process of opening their first brick-and-mortar at 1261 Grandview Ave. The shop previously operated through pop-up shops around Columbus and offered delivery during the pandemic.
Bradley Kaplan, the shop’s owner, said his first spark of inspiration came when he began to miss his mother’s cookies when he came back to Columbus after the holidays.
“I had just gotten back from the holidays at my mom’s and was craving one of those fresh-baked, awesome cookies I had eaten a few days prior,” Kaplan said.
Kaplan said he would bake cookies before his full-time civil engineering job and his night classes at Ohio State. After obtaining his Master of Business Administration degree in 2019, Kaplan turned his hobby into a career.
Kaplan said he had the realization that he could bring a unique aspect to the cookie franchise. He said the cookies he sells are thicker than a traditional-sized cookie for people to savor.
“There’s a nice subtle crunch on the outside and a soft gooiness inside that I think a lot of people enjoy when they eat a cookie,” Kaplan said.
The cookies sold include classics such as chocolate chip as well as a variety of other flavors introduced on a rotating menu of three new flavors each week, Kaplan said.
Lion Cub’s Cookies have experimented with a variety of flavors as simple as M&M cookies to a pumpkin roll and puppy chow flavors.
Before the pandemic, Lion Cub’s Cookies operated as a pop-up shop that was located at six locations, including the North Market and the Lincoln Social. Lion Cub’s Cookies is still selling their products via delivery.
“With COVID-19, the pop-ups stopped, and we haven’t really revisited since we did one small pop-up a couple of months ago at Watershed Distillery,” Kaplan said.
During the pop-up at Watershed Distillery, Kaplan said Lion Cub’s Cookies sold out of their cookies within an hour of being at the location.
Due to the success the business has been seeing, Kaplan said he is in the process of opening the store in the late spring or early summer. They do not have an exact date set yet.
Hunter Gordon, general manager of Lion Cub’s Cookies, said that although the pandemic shut down their pop-up shops, it allowed for new opportunities such as introducing delivery into their business model.
“The pandemic has actually kind of allowed us the opportunity to grow and to be in the situation we’re at now, where we are able to move into Grandview,” Gordon said.
Lion Cub’s Cookies engages with its customers by offering the chance to be a taste tester to ensure that the cookies being made and the flavors being offered meet their standards. According to their website, Lion Cub’s Cookies regularly posts about taste-testing opportunities on their Instagram page @LionCubsCookies.
“This is just an opportunity to get to know our customers and allow them to tell us what they like and what they don’t like about anything,” Kaplan said.
The cookie shop will be located at 1261 Grandview Ave. with neighbors such as Jeni’s Ice Cream and Stauf’s Coffee Roasters. Gordon said this location will likely bring in more business.
“Someone’s going to buy a cup of coffee and then smell some fresh cookies baking, and it’s a good chance they’re coming in to buy a cookie,” Gordon said.
