Local cookie-delivery business raising money for permanent store

After moving from his apartment’s kitchen to the back of a downtown restaurant, a UF student and entrepreneur now hopes to settle down his bakery business.

Cookiegazm, a cookie-delivery business founded in 2014, began raising money last week to open up a physical location in Gainesville by January. Since Oct. 13, it has raised more than $1,000 of the necessary $30,000.

Daniel Leal, a 22-year-old UF sustainability studies senior and the company’s founder, said the need for a permanent facility was spurred by a steep increase in sales. The delivery-only company sees about 65 orders per night, he said.

“We are getting to that point where we are getting so many orders that I don’t know how much longer we can continue in our kitchen,” said employee Eduardo Cabral, a 19-year-old Santa Fe College sophomore.

The idea began with Leal and his roommate in The Courtyards apartments, scrambling through their unit’s pantry, baking and selling cookies to their neighbors for some spare cash.

After coming up with the name, the roommates created some fliers and got to work. Since then, Cookiegazm has become a major player in Gainesville’s cookie scene, receiving dozens of orders per night and as many as 95 orders on a recent busy evening.

Last week, Jordi Lorido, a 21-year-old UF economics senior, ordered five cookies. He said the variety of flavor combinations, from peanut butter and jelly to Nutella, appeal to him.

“I got some crazy s---,” he said of his order. “It was like red velvet with M&M’s and a marshmallow on it.”

But with no fixed location, the company has moved around to multiple restaurants since the beginning, including Omi’s Tavern in downtown Gainesville, from which it currently operates.

Leal said he is looking for a storefront close to campus where students can eat and hang out.

“Who doesn’t want to experience what a Cookiegazm feels like?” he said.

Daniel Leal, a 22-year-old UF sustainability studies senior and founder of cookie-delivery company Cookiegazm, poses with a batch of his cookies in October 2016. The late-night cookie delivery business announced it was closing on Facebook.