There’s something about handmade delicacies that taste better than mass-produced food sold. Founder Brenda Coffman made an entertaining appearance on Shark Tank but wasn’t able to get a deal. Fast forward 10 years and the business is still booming. As of 2023, Blondie’s Cookies is worth an estimated $6 million.
About the Founder
Brenda Coffman is a long-time baker and entrepreneur from Kokomo, Indiana. Coffman got married young but it didn’t stop her from pursuing higher education. She studied business at Indiana State University and it was here that she learned about the basics of entrepreneurship. During this time, her husband was also in college and they struggled financially.
Founding the Company
To help pay the bills, Brenda began baking cookies at the weekend and sold them at her husband’s fraternity parties. She made everything from scratch and people loved her cooking. Her cookies became hot property not only among students but with teachers at her school.
Starting out with one brownie and 11 cookie flavors, her brand slowly became known across Indiana. Blondie’s Cookies was established in 1984 and within a year they set up their first retail store at Markland Mall in Kokomo, Indiana. Over the years, Brenda slowly opened up more stores to expand her footprint in Indiana.
What makes her cookies unique is everything is baked from scratch with fresh ingredients and any unsold products are donated to local charities. In 2011, the business made $2.3 million from 12 retail stores.
Shark Tank Appearance
Blondie’s Cookies opened up four branches in Florida around the same time, which was a bold move that put Brenda $800,000 in debt. In 2012, she needed to raise more money and appeared on season three on Shark Tank, seeking $200,000 for 3% equity.
The Sharks loved the cookies but didn’t like the valuation. In addition, the Sharks were worried about the company’s expansion plans as the stores in Florida were losing money. The valuation was high considering cooking fresh cookies isn’t a high-margin business and Kevin O’Leary wasn’t afraid to share his opinion.
This resulted in a memorable back and forth between O’Leary and Brenda. All the Sharks dropped out for similar reasons. Cuban also expressed his fondness for the cookies, but didn’t fancy writing a check to invest.
After Shark Tank
After Shark Tank, Brenda eventually closed all of her stores in Florida and refocused her efforts in Indiana. Back when she featured on Shark Tank the show wasn’t as popular as it is today but the publicity definitely helped sales. Brenda revealed in an interview she received three marriage proposals after her pitch.
Coffmann also opened up a production facility in her home state. The company also made wholesale deals and partnership agreements with Grubhub and DoorDash. They now have seven stores in Indiana, but you can buy her products online at BlondiesCookies.com. Her website looks very outdated and is badly in need of a revamp.
Blondie’s Cookies has an average rating of 3 stars from 33 reviews on Yelp. Despite the modest ratings, the business makes $8.8 million in annual revenue and is worth an estimated $6 million. Brenda’s future goals include opening more stores in Indiana and expanding into nearby states.
