By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Ken DiVincenzo drove 140 miles Thursday for his last chance to load up on cookies from the Cookie Jar in Bowling Green. He had received a frantic call from his 8½ month pregnant daughter that her beloved cookie shop was closing.
“She called us last night and she was crying. We drove here from Cleveland to get her some cookies,” DiVincenzo said.
His daughter had gone to BGSU and had seen on Facebook that the Cookie Jar was closing – and she desperately needed one last batch of the signature “Inception” cookies. DiVincenzo confessed that he and his wife would not be able to resist having a couple of the fresh from the oven cookies on their way back to Cleveland.
Thursday was an emotional day for Maureen Lanigan, who opened the Cookie Jar in 2006 after she attended school at BGSU and never left Bowling Green.
“I fell in love with this town,” she said.
Lanigan, who has a bottomless passion for baking, saw a niche in the community that she could fill. In 2006, the only home-delivered foods in town were pizza and sandwiches.
She wanted to mimic that convenience, “but with made from scratch cookies. So they are always hot and fresh.”
Lanigan learned that a few owners of established food services actually placed bets on how long her cookie business would last.
“They said, ‘who is going to wait for cookies?’ Well here I am 16 years later,” she said as she watched the steady stream of customers come in to place their last orders. Her strategy included staying open late (to midnight until recently) to satisfy hungry students.
Though her business model was questioned by some at the beginning, the popularity of the business soared. On busy days, the Cookie Jar would fill orders for up to 1,600 cookies.
But Lanigan explained that since the 2020 pandemic, the Cookie Jar is among the countless small businesses across the nation to suffer irreparable and continuous financial hardships.
Lanigan could not bring herself to short the quality of ingredients, nor shrink the size of the cookies – while keeping the cookies at a competitive price. So she is closing instead, after business on Saturday.
The sign in the shop lists the classic cookie selections under the words “Hot Lovin’ from the Oven.” The daily fare includes chocolate chip, peanut butter, snickerdoodle, oatmeal scotchies, M&M, and double chocolate chip.
Throughout the year, there were daily specials with more exotic flavors like wacky watermelon, maple bacon, Smurftastic, apple cobbler, Darth Vader, and banana hammock.
And then there’s the real crowd pleaser – the “Inception” cookies that were concocted by a former employee. It started with chocolate chip dough with a whole Oreo baked into the middle. That evolved into other “Inception” recipes, such as golden Oreos in white chocolate chip cookies, and Girl Scout thin mints and tagalong cookies baked into creme de menthe and peanut butter cookies.
Lanigan is feeling the love from her customers – with more than 500 comments on her Facebook post about the shop closing. Patrons have offered to start a Go Fund Me page to keep the cookies coming.
Former BGSU students offered thanks for her cookies getting them through late night shifts at work, study sessions, and for soothing broken hearts. Many of them mentioned the Cookie Jar always being part of their pilgrimage when they made return visits to Bowling Green.
Most of the customers on Thursday afternoon were regulars in need of one last box of the mouth-watering cookies.
Alex Beverick, of Rossford, said she became hooked on the cookies more than a decade ago when she was a student at BGSU. Her parents would order the cookies to be delivered – hot and gooey. Beverick said she makes the trip back to the Cookie Jar at least once a month.
“I like the classic chocolate chip,” she said.
On Thursday she was picking up the goods for co-workers.
“The whole company is going to miss this place,” Beverick said, as she secured a dozen cookies – though they were tempted to get more. “We tried to keep it reigned in.”
One customer was sent from Perrysburg by his wife, who he said is a regular at the shop. To satisfy all in the family, he ordered four chocolate chips, three snickerdoodles, three peanut butter, and three oatmeal raisins.
But two customers, Colleen Kaylor of Toledo, and Bailey Speakman of Michigan, had never been to the cookie shop before. They were convinced to stop by the rave reviews the cookies had earned from friends.
“Friends told us it’s closing and we had to try it,” Kaylor said. They left with an assortment of 15 cookies – and some high expectations.
Back in the kitchen, Leslie Clark was working hard to keep the cookies coming.
“Lots of people are very sad,” said Clark, who previously worked as shop manager and returned to help with the uptick in orders right before the closing. Like many, she said she would miss the Cookie Jar.
“I’m a huge fan,” Clark said, noting her favorite as the oatmeal scotchie. “I probably gained 20 pounds working here.”
Lanigan’s favorite? The speciality orange creamsicle and the crumb top pie cookie.
“But I’m a sucker for a basic gooey chocolate chip,” she said. “It’s really hard to resist the smell.”
As Lanigan prepares to bake the final batch, she is comforted by the feeling that she achieved her goal of becoming a Bowling Green tradition – like Polleyes and Pisanello’s.
“That’s very important to me,” she said.
Lanigan not only satisfied the random need for sweets, but she also became a community partner who supplied baked goods for weddings, baby showers, baseball teams, and delivered memories from home to college students feeling a little homesick. “They were hot cookies the way Mom and Grandma would make,” she said.
For 16½ years, Lanigan has also used her baking to give back to the community. And now she is feeling the love in return.
“I am thankful for all of my staff, all of the customers,” she said. “I am overwhelmed by the love and support.”
Lanigan isn’t sure where she will land in the future, but she suspects it will involve cookies.
“My passion will always be with baking and cookies,” she said.
