By Heather Posey
Staff Writer
When choosing the right gift for any occasion, unique and personal are usually the top qualities to have. And such qualities are what Renee Kim describes with Cookies by Design, a custom cookie decorating company that offers an alternative gift option to satisfy any sweet tooth with style.
For more than 10 years, Cookies by Design has been offering their designer desserts to Long Beach residents online and at its Long Beach franchise on Pacific Coast Highway. As the latest owner of that franchise, Kim was very pleased with the opportunity she stumbled upon nearly three years ago.
“I originally wanted to open a cupcake bakery back in 2004 but what ended up happening was that I was doing research and saw this listing online,” she said. “I had never seen anything like it.”
With her small staff of five, Kim’s company draws, designs, bakes and decorates cookies individually or in one of their signature “cookie bouquets.”
“All of our cookies are baked fresh from scratch and we can do anything on a cookie that the customer wants,” said Kim.
From photos, to business logos to various shapes and sizes for all occasions, Cookies by Design has no limit to their design and decorating capabilities. In fact, many of Kim’s employees are students with backgrounds in art and design, a skill which helps with their many orders.
“The process is very labor intensive because we just don’t do one order at a time, but usually a cookie can take anywhere between 3 to 10 minutes to decorate and then baking it takes 30 minutes in the oven,” said Kim. “Then the assembly takes 5 to 10 minutes to tissue it and put it all together. So I would say an hour for a bouquet.”
Some of Cookies by Design’s typical arrangements include congratulatory bouquets, “It’s a Boy/Girl,” “Get Well Soon,” as well as birthday, sympathy and thank-you bouquets. And according to Kim, many customers call in with their own ideas, which the staff is happy to help construct.
“Many times, a repeat customer will ask ‘Can you do this on a cookie?’ If you can think it, we can bake, decorate, and package it just the way you want,” Kim said.
One unique bouquet was created as a donation for a Signal Hill Chamber mixer at Farmers and Merchants Bank late last year. The cookies depicted the city’s old water tank, oil derricks and pumps.
Cookies by Design is located at 5205-A East Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach and is open from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.
For more information, call (562) 961-9161 or visit www.cookiesbydesign.com.
