Jeff Vaccaro is ready to greet every customer who walks through the doors of the newly opened Crumbl in Alexandria, the newest location for the cookie franchise.

The grand opening for the store at 2303 S. MacArthur Drive is Friday. Vaccaro, one of the co-owners of the store, and employees offered a sneak peek Wednesday. He said the community reaction has been great and that people would stop by to check out the store as they were under construction.

“We’re excited to have them excited about it,” he said. “It’s been cool to see them kinda popping their heads in, checking in on us.”

Vaccaro said “a bunch of people” said they knew of the franchise because they tried the cookies at locations in Lafayette and Shreveport.

“It’s been exciting for us to get to talk to those people, get to know those people,” he said. “I’ll be at the front door for a month, meeting everybody that comes through so I’m excited for that, too.”

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The Alexandria store is the first in the chain to sport a new pink logo, Vaccaro said, who also owns the two Lafayette stores with his partner, Casey Field. The two met while students at Louisiana State University and decided to buy into the Crumbl franchise after trying the cookies in 2021, according to a news release.

Vaccaro said people can use food delivery services, like Door Dash, to order. Crumbl also has its own app, which he called “the best way to order.”

The store employs 53 people, he said. There are 50 bakers and three assistant managers.

People can place orders through the app to be ready for them to pick up when they arrive. And, starting Monday for 30 days, customers who use the promo code LAALXNDRA can get one free chocolate-chip cookie.

The cookies offered for visitors on Wednesday were mini versions of what’s usually available. The menu on Wednesday offered six different offerings — Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunk, Toffee Cake, Blueberry Pancake, Ultimate Peanut Butter, Mint Cookies & Cream and Kitchen Sink.

Crumbl also offers catering. For the first week, the store will need a 36-hour notice for catering orders. But, after that, the notice time will be 18 hours, Vaccaro said.

The store’s hours will be 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, and 8 a.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays. The store is closed on Sundays.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Late night craving? New Crumbl store open until midnight this weekend