Insomnia Cookies celebrated their grand opening on Kirkwood Avenue Saturday after the brand made its debut in Bloomington last week.
The store, located at 430 E. Kirkwood Ave. under the Upstairs Pub, is celebrating its grand opening week March 6-14 after opening March 1. The store allows six people inside at a time to maintain social distancing.
Waiting outside the store, Bloomington high school students Laurel Tayloe and Kira Unger Levinson said they came to buy desserts after their pizza dinner. They said it was their second visit to the store and they enjoyed the variety of cookies offered there.
“It was new, and we just kind of wanted to try it,” Tayloe said.
Talisha Coppock, executive director of nonprofit Downtown Bloomington Inc., said she felt excited about Insomnia’s opening as a cookie fan.
“It was definitely a magnet to draw into this area,” she said.
Coppock said she came to the store to welcome the new business to downtown Bloomington and introduce staff to other businesses in the area. She said it’s not easy opening a business during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This pandemic has been so tragically devastating for our restaurants and, you know, opening in a pandemic is a big undertaking,” she said.
Coppock said another reason she visited was to bring home some cookies for her husband, who she said just had his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“He’s at home recovering, so I thought a snickerdoodle cookie would be helpful for him,” she said.
Mia Cascio, an IU alumna visiting Bloomington from Los Angeles, said she felt less excited about Insomnia opening in Bloomington because she supports local cookie shop Baked!.
“I don’t really want cookie shops coming in taking their fire,” Cascio said.
Cascio’s friend and IU alumna Audra McAllister said she came to the store on Kirkwood because she is a longtime Insomnia fan.
“I actually live in Indianapolis, and we have an Insomnia there, so when we saw this one we had to check it out,” McAllister said.
She said chocolate chip is her favorite cookie flavor at Insomnia.
Painted purple and white, Insomnia Cookies’s retail hours are from 12 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. Thursday and Friday, and 12 p.m. to 3 a.m. Saturday. Delivery starts one hour after the store opens and ends at the same time as retail hours.
The Kirkwood location is offering free delivery March 6-14 with the code “DELIVER2BLOOMINGTON,” according to a press release. Delivery orders can be placed online at the company’s website.
