Beloved jumbo cookie chain abruptly closes all shops: report

A popular cookie shop has reportedly shuttered all locations nationwide.

Known for its jumbo cookies in a variety of flavors, Chip City was launched in New York in 2017 by longtime friends Peter Phillips and Teddy Gailas. The company expanded to multiple states and dozens of locations around the country, riding the gooey cookie trend.

According to multiple reports, a memo was sent to employees Thursday by the company’s president Nicolas Baizan alerting them of the abrupt closures.

“After almost 10 years of passionately serving our loyal customers, we have decided to cease all store operations,” Baizan said in the message, according to Nation’s Restaurant News. “This means our 22 remaining stores will permanently close at the close of business today.”

Baizan was appointed president of the company just 10 weeks ago, the outlet reported.

“Our industry and business have faced a challenging environment,” he continued. “Consumers are spending less and their preferences are evolving and that has negatively impacted our sales.”

Chip City is also reportedly embroiled in a legal dispute after co-founder Phillips sued the company, its backers and investors, as well as executives including Baizan in a lawsuit filed earlier this week in New York.

The company has not publicly announced a shutdown of any kind. The Independent has contacted the company for more information.

Dismayed employees and customers reported finding locations throughout the country closed their doors earlier this week.

The Hartford Courant reported in late September that Connecticut’s three locations had closed, while other reports indicated that shops in Massachusetts and Virginia had shuttered as well. Chip City, which once had about 45 shops nationwide, had just a fraction of locations listed on its site this week after the reported closures.

Then, a New Yorker shared Thursday on Reddit that locations in Manhattan had “shut down with no notice.”

Responding to that thread, someone wrote: “Wow, I remember when they were just one tiny storefront in Astoria, you had to stand outside in line and sometimes wait 10 to 20 minutes for them to make more cookies when they ran out of a flavor. I’ve heard quality went down as they expanded, and it seems like they grew too fast, but still sad for everyone losing their jobs.”

“Disgusting that they did this to all their employees,” another wrote.

Several customers even reported receiving a text message promotion from Chip City just hours before the shops closed.

Some shops were still reported as being open on Google as of publication. The Chip City website and social media accounts are still up and running, with locations listed as open.