Pasco to get its own gourmet cookie shop. Kennewick store is baking up a storm
In a time when many restaurants and stores are struggling to hire workers, two Tri-Cities franchises appear to have found the recipe for creating a healthy employee base.
Its all about having fun, said Ranae Rusk, owner of the newest Crumbl Cookies in the Tri-Cities.
The Kennewick shop opened to long lines on Oct. 8, and business has been steady ever since, she said.
“I feel like Kennewick and the Tri-Cities really showed up for us,” Rusk recently told the Tri-City Herald. “Everybody seems really excited that we’re here. All the reviews are really positive, and a lot of the comments are about how great our staff is and how friendly they are.”
The gourmet cookie shop at 1102 N. Columbia Center Blvd., near Target in the former home of GameStop, is the second Tri-Cities location of Crumbl Cookies.
The first opened in March in Richland at 2665 Queensgate Drive, also near Target. And that shop’s owner, Kevin Hatch, confirmed to the Herald that he and business partner Ian Taylor are working on opening in Pasco so all three cities soon will be served fresh-baked cookies.
The future Pasco store at 5025 Road 68, in a former nail salon across the parking lot from Yoke’s Fresh Market, is stalled by the permitting process right now, said Hatch.
He hopes to have it open by next year.
“We’ve always wanted to bring (Crumbl) into the Tri-Cities,” said Hatch, who added that they couldn’t be happier with the response they’ve gotten at the Richland shop.
“The Tri-Cities has been very, very supportive, so we’re very grateful for that,” he said.
The chain already has more than 260 locations in 36 states just four years after opening its first store in Utah.
The bakery features four weekly rotating cookie flavors selected from a menu of 40 recipes, along with the standard warm chocolate chip and chilled sugar cookies.
Recent choices include Halloween-themed cookies include Dirt Cake, Sugar (Pumpkin Candy) and Pumpkin Roll.
“It’s something new every week. We love the model that Crumbl has for that,” said Hatch.
Crumbl also has six ice cream flavors, such as peanut butter chocolate, sea salt toffee, churro and hot chocolate.
Hatch said corporate has been revamping the ice cream recipes so they taste as good as the cookies. He hopes to have ice cream in stock within the next month or two.
The Richland store currently has around 35 to 40 employees, and Hatch said they have to turn people down because they have a never-ending supply of applicants.
Once the Pasco shop is ready to go, he anticipates hiring between 50 and 55 for that location.
In Kennewick, Rusk — who owns the store with husband Matt Rusk — said they have 63 employees and consistently are told by the crew that it’s “the best job ever.”
Rusk said she stumbled upon a Crumbl store over a year ago in Portland and immediately was drawn to the friendly atmosphere. That’s when she got the ball rolling with corporate to open in Kennewick.
“It just gives me a sense of fulfillment that I didn’t know I was looking for,” she said. “It’s cool for being in the food industry. ... It’s very enjoyable and I think everybody feels that.”
Cookies start at about $4 each, a 6-pack is $18, and there’s a loyalty program.
Information: crumblcookies.com, Facebook and Instagram.
Store hours are 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 8 a.m. to midnight Friday-Saturdays.
New Bruchi’s
Construction is well under way on the former home of a Kennewick Subway and most-recently the Fresh Leaf eatery to make way for another restaurant.
The building built in 1953 on Kennewick Avenue, just east of Highway 395, will be home to the newest Bruchi’s CheeseSteaks & Subs.
Bruchi’s owner Mike Scott bought the half-acre parcel and building at 2615 W. Kennewick Ave. in January for $675,000 after Fresh Leaf moved to a new location in Richland.
He told the Herald in April the site will replace his location just down the street and will have a bigger dining area and drive-thru.
Kennewick issued building permits totalling $870,000 this month for the gutting and renovation of the building by MH Construction and a new HVAC system.
Tri-Cities has six Bruchi’s locations — one in Richland on Jadwin Avenue, one in Pasco off Burden Boulevard and four in Kennewick.