Social media phenomenon Crumbl Cookies opening new location in South Elgin
A long line of cookie fans is anticipated in South Elgin Friday morning for the grand opening of a new Crumbl Cookies bakery.
Located at 315 Randall Road, in the shopping center between Jewel and Randall's Pancake House, the new location will hold a ribbon cutting Thursday before its big opening at 8 a.m. Friday.
Just over a year ago, franchisee Jennifer Krumm (yes, that's right, Krumm) had never heard of Crumbl, even though it's been a social media phenomenon.
She was visiting family last year in Florida when her sister-in-law brought over some Crumbl cookies.
“I'm like, what the heck is Crumbl?” she said. “I'm a little too old for Tik Tok.”
But the cookies had an immediate impact on her. After some internet research on the company, she called her husband John and said they were going to open a Crumbl franchise.
His reaction sounded familiar. “What the heck is Crumbl?”
“They're just delicious,” Jennifer said. “My first thought was, 'Holy cow, this would be awesome back home.'”
Since its inception in 2017, Crumbl has expanded to over 500 bakeries in 36 states, including suburban locations in Schaumburg, Naperville, Buffalo Grove, Gurnee, Glendale Heights, Northbrook and Oak Brook. Another location is scheduled to open next week in Orland Park.
Crumbl became a social media hit with its aesthetically-pleasing cookies and shiny pink boxes — perfect for the Instagram generation. Each bakery offers six cookie choices each week. Chocolate chip is always on the menu, but the other five rotate with a highly-anticipated announcement on social media at 6 p.m. each Sunday when all locations are closed.
This week's menu includes banana bread, monster, mint brownie, strawberry ice cream bar and chocolate caramel.
Opening the business is an entirely new frontier for the Krumms. Jennifer previously worked as an accountant, and John is a funeral director. They now have 75 employees at the bakery. It will be open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday.
“I'm very excited,” she said. “I don't know what I don't know, and it's definitely been a learning experience. But I know cookies are all about enjoyment and happiness and comfort.”