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Families use dough, add-ins to create their own edibles
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Video: Kookie cookies made fresh
A create-your-own-kookie retail store opens in the Janss Marketplace in Thousand Oaks.
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Photo by Chuck Kirman
A "create-your-own-kookie" moments before it will be baked.
STORY TOOLS 
More from Business“Look at that, will ya?” Camarillo Springs resident John Walker said as he picked up a freshly baked cookie.
One bite later, Walker exclaimed: “I’m coming back.”
Walker was one of the first customers to enter Kookie Krazy, a cookie-creation store that opened last week in Thousand Oaks at Janss Marketplace.
The 1,300-square-foot store is designed to be a place where families can hang out for a bit before heading off to the neighboring movie theater or wherever.
Founders Mark Boos Benhard and Jim Kelley hope that the store taps into people’s imaginations.
The main area of the store is 1,000 square feet, with the remaining 300 square feet in back reserved as a party area. Benhard said they’ve already booked the room for several events.
At the store, customers can pick from six flavored cookie doughs — chocolate, plain, espresso, peanut butter, oatmeal and sugar. They also can choose from a selection of more than 40 add-ins, such as semisweet chocolate chips, crushed candies, nuts and dried berries.
The dough and add-ins are tossed into a metal pie tin that visitors take to a table to assemble their cookies. After some smushing dough and pushing in candy pieces or other add-ins, customers return the ready-to-cook concoctions to the counter. An employee pops tins in an oven and hands customers a 15-minute timer.
The cookies bake for 12 minutes and then cool. The customer can add toppings after the baking process at a toppings bar, where there are syrups, sprinkles and marshmallows.
Unlike at home, there’s no cleanup — at least not for the customers — after the cookies are prepared.
It took the founders of Kookie Krazy Inc. about two years and $250,000 to get their first store up and running. They hope that it will serve as a model for future franchise stores.
While Benhard and Kelley are the majority owners, minority investors from the Conejo Valley and other parts of the country hold an interest.
They’ve had the investors in to experience the business, and have run the concept by multiple focus groups.
“I don’t feel like we have any competition at all,” Benhard said. “So if this store is as hot as we think it’s going to be, there’s absolutely no reason there can’t be one in every community like ours across America.”
National Retail Federation spokesman Scott B. Krugman said the company’s marketing and product have to be good, but said he’d go.
“I think it sounds like a smart concept,” he said. “And any time you’re able to add an experience in terms of retail, I think that gives you a leg up.”
Benhard and Kelley are targeting a wide demographic, from young children to adults, and have worked to develop something “not too kid-like and not too adult-like.” They concede that teenage boys might be hard to capture.
If the store doesn’t take off as planned, Benhard and Kelley won’t be out of work. They each have other businesses.
Benhard, 43, is president of Westlake Village-based MBB Inc., a public relations and advertising firm.
Kelley, 44, operates Kelley Insurance Agency in Agoura Hills.
Benhard said they’ve been swamped since the grand opening last weekend. It’s been slower during the week, he said, and around dinnertime.
One thing that’s surprised him is how much kids seem to like the plain and sugar doughs.
“I’m not sure why,” he said.
Benhard repeatedly pointed out that the concept is new and that there is a learning curve.
“While we’ll have pre-made cookies for people on the run,” he said, “that’s not our business model. It’s an interactive family experience.”
Thousand Oaks resident Erin Mayo stopped into the store a week ago. Her children are grown, but she has a 6-year-old nephew she plans to bring back.
Asked why she thinks that a parent would prefer to take kids to Kookie Krazy to make cookies when they could do it at home, she said: “I don’t know about anybody else, but when my kids were young, I didn’t have 30 or so mix-ins in my cupboard.”
Posted by moethebartender on June 6, 2008 at 4:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't know about the rest of you, but I can bake cookies at home. And cleaning up the pots and pans is not an insurmountable burden. However, there's definitely some appeal to the 40 add-ins ... but I'm sure they're all available at any grocery store.
Posted by GWAR on June 6, 2008 at 6:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"Founders Mark Boos Benhard and Jim Kelley hope that the store taps into people’s imaginations." And your wallet.
Posted by RedTail on June 6, 2008 at 7:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yeah, one can bake cookies at home. One can do a lot of things at home--like eat dinner, watch a movie, paint crafts, etc. The appeal is that you can hang out with friends and do something fun away from home for awhile.
Posted by tiales on June 6, 2008 at 10:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
No mention as to how much this costs but I'm sure its cheaper to do at home.
Posted by BeaHappi on June 6, 2008 at 11:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think this would be a fun idea for a kid's party or gathering with friends.
Posted by lilmamma on June 6, 2008 at 11:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I like this idea...please open one up in Oxnard. You bake the cookies and someone else cleans up the mess...Fabulous Idea!!
Posted by Prissy_Leghorn on June 6, 2008 at 12:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If they made cupcakes available - I'd be there in a second. :)
Posted by LivinInPoorMansPV on June 6, 2008 at 1:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
“I don’t feel like we have any competition at all,” Benhard said
They haven't tried my cookies!
I bet these cookies taste like crap, like Mrs. Fields, YUCK!
Another thing for yuppies to do so they can say OMG I had the Kookie Party for my daughter, it was so hip and amazing.
Spare me!
Some people are just not cooks or bakers or just plain lazy.
making a batch of cookies takes 15 minutes at the most, and there is only ONE bowl to clean. What is up with these people? Oh and the beaters ...hellow do i get to lick the beaters at this place?
Posted by citygirl on June 6, 2008 at 1:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I can see this being a fun and different option for kids birthday parties if you don't want the liability and mess at your house with 10 wild kids... but i can't see an individual family or mom and kids deciding to go out and do this and wait around 15 minutes while your cookies bake. What do you do all that time? Chase and reprimand your little kids all around the store while they are bored silly waiting? Or is there a play area for the kids inside? And what happens when they want another cookie and you don't want to spend the $$ for another cookie for all your kids, but then your kids throw a tantrum in the store? Sounds like alot of stress and money to me. Unless you have older kids. Found it interesting that the article didn't include the costs to make a cookie, which would be interesting to find out.
Posted by SCfan01 on June 6, 2008 at 2:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Gosh people, get life! If you don't like the idea, shut up and stay home! Really, why don't you try enjoying yourselves!
Posted by Mr_E_Man on June 6, 2008 at 2:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If you are so boring and sterilized that you feel the best way to introduce your child to the joy of baking is to go somewhere and pay someone else to do it for you, you have my sympathies.
And if that's the best idea you can up with for a birthday party, seriously, you need to get out more.
By the way, I do not have a bias against cookies in general. In fact, I'm currently having an affair with a couple of oatmeal raisins that I picked up at Subway... for 50 cents.
Posted by SCfan01 on June 6, 2008 at 2:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Obviously, you paid someone else for your oatmeal raisin cookie, hypocrite!
Posted by SCfan01 on June 6, 2008 at 2:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
For those of you who are not perfect Susie homebakers, or just like to give your kids a different experience, more power to you! Have a good time!
Posted by LivinInPoorMansPV on June 6, 2008 at 2:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
People are so uptight these days...crazy.
...kids birthday parties if you don't want the liability and mess at your house with 10 wild kids...
That is the fun of IT!
city girl i agree, i can see the tantrums, mistakes and wanting to do the cookie again PUUUUUUUUULLLLLLLLLLLLLEASE MOMMY, ah i cant stand these nagging kids.
I actually baked cookies with my cub scouts... 7 boys when i was a den leader, for there cooking merit badge, WE HAD A BLAST, and we got to GRUB ON KILLER COOKIES! The boys loved it.
Posted by SCfan01 on June 6, 2008 at 3:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Right on LivinInPoorMansPV
Seriously, these people need some excitement!
Posted by BeaHappi on June 6, 2008 at 3:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"If you are so boring and sterilized that you feel the best way to introduce your child to the joy of baking is to go somewhere and pay someone else to do it for you, you have my sympathies."
"And if that's the best idea you can up with for a birthday party, seriously, you need to get out more."
Well I'm certainly not a yuppie, boring or sterilized and we throw pretty cool kid parties but sheesh! Some people are so hostile about this.
Truthfully, I'll probably never frequent the cookie shop but I still think it's a fun idea. I don't even know if they offer parties for kids. I just threw that out there.
Maybe some of the hostile bakers here need to whip up a batch of Nestle's toll-house cookies and eat them. Wash them down with some cold milk or maybe even a cool beer. You should be "feeling the love" in no time!
Posted by citygirl on June 6, 2008 at 4:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
LivinInPoorMansPV, I have a 3 year old so I am picturing that age at Kookie Krazy, so I'll opt out until my kid is older. In the meantime I'll do the old fashioned thing and bake at home with a couple of bottles of sprinkles to decorate with, which will make my kid plenty happy, and he won't feel deprived by not being able to pick from 40 toppings. Kids that age won't be able to decide; its too overwhelming for them. Cub scout age is much older and much more manageable, and yes, I could handle that age.
Posted by Mr_E_Man on June 6, 2008 at 4:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Not trying to be hostile here, just having fun.
But I really wasn't ryig to be hypocritical. Its one thing to go out and buy a pre-baked cookie. Its another entirely to go to a place to bake cookies and then have someone there bake it for you.
You're essentially paying double for a cookie, just so you can pick your own toppings.
Why not "pick" your toppings at the grocery store, pick up a tube of pilsbury dough from the freezer aisle and pop a cookie sheet in the oven?
Just think of the money you'll save and the memories you'll create without being rushed.
Now if you all will excuse me, I smell fresh cookies in the lunchroom.
(sniff, sniff)Mmmmm.
Posted by BeaHappi on June 6, 2008 at 4:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Who cares why people want to go there and bake cookies? If they're having fun and putting $$ back into the local economy, does it really matter?
Posted by Mr_E_Man on June 6, 2008 at 4:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Thanks for setting me straight Bea. I feel bad now.
Who am I to stand between an investor and his hard earned money.
Seems like a waste to me, but then again, I'm prone to wasting money on silly things too.
Posted by NatalieZ on June 6, 2008 at 5:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I took my nieces there the other night and they had a great time! While their cookies baked, one of them watched the movie that was playing in the party room (Willy Wonka- the original version!) and I showed the older one how to play my favorite childhood video game- Pacman!
The girls particularly liked shaping the cookies themselves and were wow-ed at how big they turned out (good value for the $4.99 price) and how many things they could decorate them with afterward- we even had leftovers to take home for their mom!
The cookies were delicious, and I like that they offer ready to go cookies as well, in case I ever need a dozen+ in a hurry (they also do gift packaging and said they'd work with me if I ever have any unique requests for cookie cakes).
I guess I just don't get why people are so negative with their comments. It's a fun environment and a nice way to get the family together outside of the home; it's also really close to the movie theatre and all of the other things the Janss Marketplace offers. Almost anything you pay money for is something you could do yourself (why go to a restaurant when you could cook? Why join a gym when you can run outside? Because it's easier and more fun!) I won't be at Kookie Krazy everyday, but it's a really fun treat and the customized party packages the manager talked about are a lot more than just cookies.
Posted by citygirl on June 6, 2008 at 5:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If people are willing to pay for it, then that investor /owner has succeeded. Whether wrong or right to bake at a retail location vs home doesn't matter in that sense. What does matter is we all have a CHOICE in our fair country.
Posted by Mr_E_Man on June 6, 2008 at 5:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Thanks for the insight Natalie.
So what time does your shift start at the cookie shop? Did that plug get you a raise?
$4.99? You have got to be kidding me. Only in T.O.
Posted by BeaHappi on June 6, 2008 at 5:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
NatalieZ...thank you!
Posted by BeaHappi on June 6, 2008 at 5:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Mr E Man - your response to NatalieZ was mean.
Anyways, you know you're going to go by and check out this new business...
It might even make a believer out of you!
Posted by NatalieZ on June 6, 2008 at 5:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Mr_E_Man, you have got to be kidding ME. If you have nothing better to do with your time than bash a place aimed at creating fun for kids, followed by bashing a total stranger and insinuating that I wasn't honest in my comments then that's pretty pathetic.
We get it, you're not going to be a customer at the cookie shop. Stop being a hater and move on.
Posted by Mr_E_Man on June 6, 2008 at 5:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
My apologies Natalie. I was laughing when I wrote it, but in hindsight now see that my bash on the price made the jab about working there seem mean.
But you have to admit, that post did look alot like an insider advertisement.
I guess I was a little shocked to see the words "$4.99" (for a single cookie) and "value" in the same sentence. Damn near made me cough up a raisin.
Posted by BeaHappi on June 6, 2008 at 5:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Where did it say that it was $4.99 for a single cookie?
Posted by Mr_E_Man on June 6, 2008 at 5:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
See Natalies first post, second paragraph.
Posted by NatalieZ on June 6, 2008 at 5:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I guess the fact that I'm responding (again) makes me a little pathetic too huh Mr_E_Man? :)
I wasn't trying to sell you, or anyone else, with my comment- I was just being honest about my experience at the store. I'm a journalism student and I always tend to write a little "reporter-ish" with so many details.
$4.99 would be a lot for just a cookie. But the cookies are huge! And they include the dough and three things in it and all the decorating stuff you want. To me, with no grocery shopping or clean up necessary, that's pretty good value considering my wallet has been wiped out with my nieces at places like Chuck E Cheese in the past.
Posted by Mr_E_Man on June 6, 2008 at 5:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Having watched the video, I didn't think those cookies looked big enough to have "left-overs."
They say the camera adds ten pounds. It could be the opposite with inanimate food substances.
Anyhow, I wouldn't be surprised if my little ones somehow gang up and force dad to take them there at some point.
But I promise you, no matter how good they are, I will at least pretend to be unhappy about it.
Posted by NatalieZ on June 6, 2008 at 6:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Haha: "They say the camera adds ten pounds. It could be the opposite with inanimate food substances."
I agree the video doesn't do it justice. Look at the photo under the video too, the cookie that's about to be baked, and see how big it is! Now imagine that spread out and puffed up after baking!
Oh, and you're more than entitled to pretend to be unhappy about it. But give it a chance, talk to the staff, ask for a sample, the cookies really are pretty good.
Posted by alex.poet on June 6, 2008 at 8:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I made you a cookie, but I eated it.
Posted by ahamilton on June 7, 2008 at 12:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Oh Nozzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!
Posted by lizlemon on June 7, 2008 at 8:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
$4.99 for a single cookie is a bit much. It seems to me that the target market for these cookies are the same people who think it is reasonable to spend $4.50 a day for coffee. Coffee and cookies can be made for pennies at home and don't require you to drive anywhere extra: just plan ahead when you go to the grocery store. My grandmother owned a convenience store when I was growing up and she will tell you to this day that the one product that made her the biggest return was cups of coffee for 50 cents each.
Posted by star on June 7, 2008 at 11:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The only thing that bothers me about this business is that I didn't think of it first.
Posted by NatalieZ on June 8, 2008 at 12:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Just to clear it up for everyone- the $4.99 is for a ball of dough and three mix in things (candy, nuts etc.)
With that, you can make one really big cookie or two medium cookies or a bunch of smaller cookies. It's not just for one cookie.
And yeah, I wish I thought of the idea first too..
Posted by my2cents4u on June 8, 2008 at 7:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Some of you are very rude and mean. You should be ashamed of yourselves for criticizing a family-oriented and wholesome business for having the initiative and courage to start their own business. I am sure that none of the criticizers have ever owned their own business and have no idea how hard it can be. Small businesses are the true back-bone of America! Sounds like there are a bunch of grouches out there! If you don't care for the concept, YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO!! I am not a yuppie with a lot of money, but it sounds entertaining and I know my kids will love it! And if someone cannot control their kids for 15 minutes, then that is THEIR problem, not the store owner's problem! So don't rain on someone else's parade for no good reason! I wish this new business all the best and I will buy stock if it ever goes public!!!
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