HUDSON — A social media cookie sensation has landed in MetroWest, as Crumbl on Friday opened a store in the Shops at Highland Commons.
Crumbl is a nationwide chain that has gained traction in recent years on social media, as accounts on Instagram, TikTok and X (formerly known as Twitter) posted about the cookie bakery and its ever-revolving menu of options.
After its 2017 founding in Utah, the chain experienced rapid growth through franchising, and now sports more than 900 locations throughout the country. However, despite opening in various parts of Massachusetts, including Dartmouth, Millbury and Methuen, MetroWest had remained untapped until this week.
“I drive by this location a lot, my family likes to ski in New Hampshire and we stop at BJ’s to get stuff for the weekend,” said Crumbl’s Hudson owner, Dennis Sosa, who lives in Millbury. “The more I come into Hudson, I’ve learned to appreciate the town, how it has a convenient location along with a small town feel.”
Crumbl serves large, often highly decorated cookies as its only main menu item. The hook is that the cookies change on a weekly basis, with the only standard being the classic milk chocolate chip. This week, options for also include Black Forest Cake, Ultimate Peanut Butter, Chocolate Crumb with Oreo, Wonka’s Wildly Wonderful Red Velvety Cookie (a tie-in with the “Wonka” musical fantasy film that debuts this week) and Snickerdoodle.
Revolving nature of Crumbl’s menu keeps its fans engaged about what’s next
The revolving nature of the menu options keeps customers engaged, with Crumbl’s Instagram page (4.2 million followers) updating fans on the latest flavors. By only infrequently featuring flavors, Sosa said customers will flock back to Crumbl when their favorite pops back up.
“The weekly rotating menu keeps everyone paying attention — it’s kind of seasonal in some aspects, but it’s also completely random,” Sosa said. “My favorite cookie flavor is Key Lime Pie; the last time we had that was in March. It keeps people paying attention and things are always changing.”
On Friday, the Hudson location was bustling with eager customers picking up their first local orders.
“I’ve known about this location going for a little while, and I had the day off so I decided to treat myself,” said Michelle Kelly, of Stow. “A friend of mine had gotten me a cookie from here before and I needed to know where she got it, so when I found out they were coming to Hudson, I knew I was definitely coming here. I got the Willy Wonka cookie, the Black Forest Cake, the Oreo and the Snickerdoodle.”
Sosa said he spent two decades working in technology before deciding to get into the cookie business. A stop at the Crumbl location in Methuen, the franchise’s first in New England, opened his mind to the possibility.
“We stopped at that location and it caught my eye, I met the owner and my partner (Richard Howell) and I started doing some research, and we decided to jump in with both feet,” saie Sosa, who besides Hudson, owns Crumbl stores in Millbury, Foxborough and Attleboro. “I love working with people. Not only the people I see in the store, but working with employees and we have some amazing people who I otherwise would never know — the small army you need to have to execute a Crumbl, because we are all making everything in house, we are cracking eggs and kneading dough.”
Cookies are the focus: ‘We don’t sell coffee — we are cookie people
The simplicity of the store, which offers only water and milk as additional menu items, puts the focus entirely on Crumbl’s cookies.
“You are delivering one product, and you want to make sure you are delivering your one product really well,” Sosa said. “Cookie quality is super important, it’s all that we do. You become super attentive to detail, and you train everyone to consistency. You stick to what you’re good at. We don’t sell coffee — we are next to Starbucks, they specialize in coffee — we are cookie people.”
Sosa continues to look at expansion opportunities, including Framingham and Natick.
“We’ve looked in that area, almost a year and a half ago, but nothing really quite matched or was available at the time,” he said. “We looked in Shoppers World, across from the Natick Mall, were Papa Gino’s used to be, we were really close but the landlord didn’t want to subdivide it for us to meet our needs. We’ve looked into it and it will come in due time.”
The Shops at Highland Commons is off Route 62, high above the roadway and up against the Berlin line. The Hudson Crumbl is in the former Sally Beauty Supply store, next to Starbucks and Supercuts.
Hours are from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; and from 8 a.m. to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. The store is closed on Sunday.
Source: MetroWest Daily News