Our Story
At a very young age, Brenda’s (Blondie) favorite thing to do was to bake cookies and of course eat them too! She was born in rural Indiana and grew up on a farm. Her father, Birdie, was a schoolteacher, football coach, and her superhero. Her mother, Betty, was a very loving woman and a homemaker who loved cooking and taking care of her family. Blondie and her sister, Beverly, always came home to a wonderful meal and many desserts! You can say they all had big sweet tooths!
As soon as Blondie was big enough to help her mother in the kitchen, she was taught how to make cookies. Blondie loved the process of baking even at a young age. It became one of her great passions in life. She baked cookies for neighbors, teachers, family, and of course her father. At this time, she was also pursuing her other great passion of ballet dancing. At age 15, she was invited to study with the Royal Canadian Ballet. One week before she was set to leave, her life changed forever. Her father was tragically killed in a car accident. Blondie’s father was her superhero. Losing him brought a wave of sadness that was overwhelming to the whole family.
Blondie lost all motivation and passion for anything in her life. While her mother struggled with her own grief, she knew that Blondie needed an outlet for her emotions. She encouraged Blondie to pick up her baking utensils and bake again. Reflecting on this time in Blondie’s life, she calls baking her “Cookie Therapy”. Out of grief and sadness, her passion for baking truly came to life. Baking not only brings Blondie joy, but it also brings joy to her family and friends.
Blondie met her #1 fan and her biggest supporter, her husband Mark, in high school. For their first Valentine’s Day, she baked him heart shaped iced cookies and had them delivered to his homeroom. Fast forward 41 years later and he still gets cookies for Valentines.
Blondie and Mark were married right out of high school. Together they moved to Terre Haute, Indiana to attend college. Blondie began her studies in Dentistry, but as fate would have it, she continued to pursue her love of baking cookies too. As newlyweds living the broke college life, Blondie baked cookies to sell at her husband’s fraternity parties on Saturday to provide them money for groceries on Sunday. Blondie’s mom was a huge supporter, and she always made sure to have a care package of sugar, flour, vanilla, chocolate chips, and more for Blondie to take back to college to help her continue baking her cookies.
Blondie’s side gig of baking and selling her cookies for grocery money kept growing and growing. She began taking large orders from her professors, friends, and even a little dinner that sold her cookies as well. Their second Christmas at college, Blondie had so many orders that they both had to stay up for two days straight to fill all the orders. This was a pivotal moment in Blondie’s life. She knew then that the little business she named, Mrs. C’s Cookie Cabin, was going to be her life’s work and not drilling teeth.
During Blondie’s junior year of college, she read an article about how the shopping mall in their hometown of Kokomo was being renovated. Not yet graduated, she told her husband, Mark, that opening her own store and baking her cookies was truly what she wanted to do. With the support of her husband, she called the Kokomo Mall the very next day. Unfortunately, she was told that there were no spots open for a small cookie shop and they hung up on her while laughing. Blondie didn’t take “no” for an answer. She knew in her heart that opening her cookie shop in this mall was exactly what she was meant to do. Blondie and her husband began their research, and they found that the local mall was owned by Simon Property Group which happened to be the country’s largest Mall Developer.
Simon is headquartered in Indianapolis, just 1 hour away from their hometown. Blondie called repeatedly to ask for a meeting. One of the leasing representatives finally agreed to meet with them. Blondie and her husband baked their hearts out and set off the next morning in their trusty Honda Civic to meet with Simon Property Group. The leasing representative liked Blondie’s cookies so much that the very next day, she received a phone call that would change her life. Simon Property Group was going to take a chance on her with nothing more than a beer-can collection, a ten-speed bicycle, and Honda Civic to their names. Blondie opened her very first cookie store in the Markland Mall located in Kokomo, Indiana. She named her first store Blondie’s Cookies.
Several successful years went by, seeing several additional stores open across the state. While running the cookie stores, Blondie and her husband were blessed with two children, Emily and Joel. Being a mom and running her cookie stores had its challenges but, Blondie wouldn’t have traded it for anything in the world. Her family is her biggest supporter then and now! They all eat, sleep, and live the Blondie’s Cookie life.
Blondie’s Cookies stores were thriving in the malls and then our nation suffered a great tragedy known as 9/11. After 9/11 our nation was in a rocky state, shopping malls were thought to be potential next targets. No one was shopping in Malls and Blondies Cookies took a big financial hit. Paying the bills during this time was not easy and Blondie had to borrow against her stores to keep them afloat. As the months and years progressed, Blondie’s Cookies made it through to then be hit by the next financial crisis known as the housing bust. Blondie kept working hard and baking her beloved cookies. They weathered through the storms and in 2010, Blondie opened four new cookie store locations in Florida. The Florida locations proved to be a physical, mental, and financial challenge.
In 2012, Blondie’s Cookies aired on Season 3 of ABC’s hit show Shark Tank. Blondie did take the advice of the Sharks and closed the Florida locations. However, when one door closes another one opens and in 2018, Blondie opened the new flagship location in Indianapolis at Castleton Square Mall. In 2022, Blondie purchased a new building for their Headquarters and mail-order division. With this new building, there is now room for a test kitchen, a small retail store, and even an event space that is available to rent!
Over the years, Blondie’s Cookies has weathered ups and downs while evolving how we do business in exciting ways. We live by our statement that “It’s all about the Cookie”. From the ingredients that we choose, to the flavors we make, to the customers we serve, we let the cookie guide our way.
Blondie’s story is like many other small business’ - out of great sadness grew a sweet success. In Blondie’s case, a sweet success with Sprinkles on top!
