Lily Cardone was trying to call in her typical order of peanut butter cookies from Cookiegazm with her roommates Wednesday night but couldn’t reach anyone.
The 20-year-old UF criminology senior feared the worst.
Twenty minutes later, when she logged onto Facebook, she realized her nightmare had come true after the late-night cookie delivery company announced they would permanently close after four years of business.
“Me and my roommates are all very upset,” Cardone said. “We all reacted kind of the same way; a lot of shock and a lot of tears.”
Cookiegazm’s sudden closing came from various issues, including a lack of profits, a price conscious student population and competition with Midnight Cookies, another late-night cookie delivery business, said 21-year-old Daniel Gavrilin, the Cookiegazm general manager and a UF tourism, events and recreation management senior.
There’s no plan to reopen, but it’s always a possibility, Gavrilin said. He said the store’s closing should be used as a lesson to others on the importance of running a business strategically.
Gavrilin, who worked at the store for four years, said he was upset, but not distraught, over the decision to close its doors.
“I was kind of bummed out because I had a really, really good job, and it was the way I supported myself,” Gavrilin said.
Cookiegazm was founded in 2015 by two UF students who baked cookies in their apartment to earn extra cash, according to Alligator archives. Gavrilin said there were nearly 30 people on payroll at the time of closing, all of who he said have now found alternative jobs.
UF electrical engineering junior 20-year-old Cali Holber said she isn’t too upset over the closing, as she preferred to purchase her cookies elsewhere.
“I feel like most people aren’t going to be too upset because most people go to Midnight Cookies,” Holber said. “They’re cheaper, and I don’t have that much money to begin with anyways.”
Cookiegazm announced in May it would be closed during Summer, Gavrilin said. It was decided the it wasn’t worth the effort to have the operation running during the 2018-2019 school year.
“People love it but the costs were simply too high,” said Gavrilin. “It was founded and ran by UF students and it was for UF students.”
Follow Dana Cassidy on Twitter @danacassidy_ and contact her atdcassidy@alligator.org.
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.
