On any given weekend, the Price Chopper grocery store at 151st Street and Metcalf Avenue is busy with shoppers.
But this coming weekend promises a particular type of buzz at the store, especially for those looking for sweet treats. That’s because Olathe-based KCookies will officially celebrate its grand opening inside the store this weekend.
The cookie shop will “soft open” at 12 p.m. on Friday, followed by grand opening festivities (including the chance to win free cookies for a year) on Saturday.
KCookies is opening at 7201 W. 151st St.
- The cookie shop has taken over a former hibachi grill space at the front of the grocery store, which is just off 151st Street and Metcalf Avenue.
- The store is near breakfast eatery First Watch.
- KCookies’ Overland Park hours will match the hours of Olathe store; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
KCookies offers 6-oz cookies and other sweet treats
The shop is known for its 6-ounce cookies, which come in a variety of flavors.
Owner Christina Jokerst said some of the best-sellers tend to be the “duchess” (chocolate chip), St. Louis butter cake, puppy chow, and “brookie” (brownie and cookie) flavors.
“People always like it when we do new flavors, but really, our bread and butter is our everyday staples,” she said.
In addition to cookies, the shop will also offer ice cream from Kansas City mainstay Betty Rae’s, as well as coffee drinks from another well known Kansas City name, The Roasterie.
This marks KCookies’ second storefront
KCookies first got its start out of Christina and Jeff Jokerst’s home in Olathe. The very first cookie recipe Christina perfected for the shop was the “duke” (chocolate chip with walnuts) — named after family friend and Jeff’s former wrestling coach, Mike Denney.
The husband-and-wife duo began showing up to local pop-up events with cookies and partnering with other local businesses to get the shop’s name out there.
“That was probably one of the most just surprisingly positive experiences, to get around and see all the different small businesses that wanted to (work with us),” Jeff recalled. “We were first-time entrepreneurs, and it was just shocking to see how entrepreneurs help other. And the whole Kansas City at-large community was just so supportive.”
The desire to bring KCookies to Overland Park came, in large part, from customer demand. By staying relatively close to Olathe, the Jokersts also said Overland Park provided a good promise for the brand to expand while also being able to remain pretty hands-on at both stores.
“As we grow, I want to make sure that everything is done right and that it still has a small business feel,” Christina Jokerst said.
Growing from a home-based operation to one with two stores means some new faces, but it also means a lot of excitement from the ones that have been there since the beginning. That’s a dynamic that the Jokersts said they’re looking forward to keeping up.
“We’ve had customers from the very start that we still see,” Jeff said. “We’ve watched kids grow up. We’ve gotten to watch babies get born, and (seen) weddings happen. That is a big differentiator.”
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