Organic cookie concept Bang Cookies is now franchising through a partnership with Oakscale. The New Jersey brand caught the franchise development firm’s attention with its business practices and product.
“I was personally looking for a cookie that had better ingredients without it being too sweet,” said George Kuan, founder of Bang Cookies. “The best compliment you can get if you’re of Asian background is if a dessert is not too sweet.”
Founded in 2016, Bang Cookies started out selling its cookies at a farmers market. The company quickly opened two locations and a factory, then Kuan knew it was time to start thinking about next steps. It now has three locations open in New Jersey.
Oakscale learned of the concept by word of mouth. Joshua Kovacs, co-founder and CEO, treated himself to Bang Cookies on more than one occasion and became acquainted with Bang co-owner Michael Smilovitch through an Oakscale investor.
George Kuan, founder of Bang Cookies.
“They had been getting a lot of interest outside of New Jersey and they had started considering franchising,” said Kovacs. “That’s when Michael reached out to me.”
Smilovitch has been a friend of Kuan’s for 20 years and is a multi-unit operator for European Wax Center. He reached out to Corey Bonalewicz, also known as the social media influencer “Corey B” with 2.3 million followers on Instagram and 10.7 million on TikTok. His videos focus on food, mostly featuring clips of his comedy shows and trying strange recipes.
“I tried one on camera and said, ‘I want in,’” said Bonalewicz, now a Bang Cookies co-owner. “I want a part of this company and it just kind of worked out this way. It meshed so well.”
“It was like a trifecta,” Smilovitch added. “I’m in the franchise world, but I’m not like Josh, and then Corey B from the entertainment side of things and I’m also in entertainment and banking.”
Bang has another way it’s garnered attention: fundraisers. Partnering with schools, the brand gave back to 200 communities and plans to find more, Kuan said.
“Collectively, we’ve had over 5,000 students that have participated in our fundraising program and they have all done very well, for the most part,” Kuan said. “What we’re trying to do now is to expand that.”
Oakscale will find franchisees that embody Bang’s values and have the business acumen to bring the brand to the next level. Though the brand is getting a lot of attention online, Kovacs emphasized responsible growth being paramount in the coming years. Kovacs said he appreciated that Bang streamlined its processes already in preparation for growth.
For example, all dough is prepared in a factory, then distributed to each location for baking. This means ingredients will be consistent and lessen the number of employees needed to run each store. Because of this, Bang requires less equipment than a bakery and its footprint is smaller.
The cost to open a Bang Cookies flagship store ranges from $404,000 to $709,000, while a satellite unit has an investment range of $234,000 to $478,000. The cookie space has a lot of competition, with major player Crumbl Cookies taking over much of the market in recent years. That brand increased its number of units by 174 percent in 2022 with systemwide sales at $685 million, according to Franchise Times’ estimate.
Bang Cookies prides itself on having delicious cookies that aren’t too sweet, Kuan said.
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Within the first year of franchising, Bang has a lofty goal of opening 15 to 25 units, Kuan said. Smilovitch echoed the idea. He’s already signed leases for his own locations and worked with his network to find ideal franchisees. The main focus for now will be in growing in urban and dense markets across the northeastern United States.
“When I met George and met the rest of the team, I felt like they were lightyears ahead of where brands typically are,” said Kovacs. “It’s the quality of Bang cookies that brought us all together and we don’t want to grow in a way that’s irresponsible or takes away from that quality.”