Blondie’s Cookies Marks Four Decades of Family, Flavor & Community Dedication
Forty years ago, in September 1985, Brenda Coffman opened her very first Blondie’s Cookies in Kokomo’s Markland Mall. She was just 21, full of ambition and ready to see if her recipes could stand up in the retail world. At a very young age, Coffman — “Blondie” — loved to bake cookies, and of course, eat them too.
She was born in rural Indiana and grew up on a farm in Galveston. Her father, Birdie, was a schoolteacher, football coach and her superhero. Her mother, Betty, was a loving homemaker who cared deeply for her family. Blondie and her sister, Beverly, always came home to a wonderful meal and many desserts. As soon as Blondie was big enough to help her mother in the kitchen, she learned how to make cookies.
Baking quickly became one of her greatest passions.
Today, Blondie’s has grown into eight retail stores across Indiana as well as five other divisions: mail-order shipping across the United States, fundraising for organizations to sell Blondie’s products to raise money, wholesale options for other businesses to expand their product lines to their customers, 3rd party delivering services such as DoorDash, GrubHub and UberEATS, and a new party room located at their company headquarters in Greentown.
Now living in Kokomo, Coffman raised two children here and is the proud grandmother of four.
“My favorite job that God has given me is being a grandma,” she says.
Her roots in Howard County run deep, and so does her loyalty to the community that helped her build a business from scratch.
This fall brought another milestone — celebrating 40 years of Blondie’s Cookies and a relocation within the Fashion Mall at Keystone. Blondie’s has operated in the mall for 25 years, but the lease required a move to the other side of the property. For Coffman, being asked to stay was validation.
Longevity is not something Coffman takes for granted. Cookie competitors have popped up in recent years — Insomnia, and others. Some arrived with splashy marketing, then faded as quickly as they came. Coffman says the difference comes down to quality.
“We love competition because it makes our cookies shine brighter,” she says. “We bake from scratch and make 28 to 30 varieties every day. We’re always thinking about our customers and what they want.”
That idea — the three Ps of Blondie’s, as Coffman calls it — guides the business: product quality, people service and presentation of store and staff. Customers can pick from a wide range of gift boxes, trays, cookie cakes and towers. Leftovers are donated nightly to local charities, a practice in place since the beginning.
“It would be cheaper and easier to throw them away, but that doesn’t meet our core values,” Coffman says. “Being part of the community is who we are.”
The community is also at the heart of Blondie’s Greentown headquarters, which now houses the company’s office, a small retail shop and a 75-seat event center. The building has become a gathering spot, hosting celebrations while preserving the history of the little town where Coffman rooted her operations and proudly gives back.
As the family business continues to evolve, Coffman’s niece manages marketing, the Greentown event space and major divisions like mail order and wholesale. Coffman hopes her own children may one day step into leadership, though both currently have careers of their own. The Coffman children grew up surrounded by the company and understood the weight of a family business.
“Good is not enough,” Coffman says. “That’s our motto. You always have to have goals and strive for the next level.”
Her resilience has carried the business through ups and downs, including moments when Blondie’s nearly closed. She remembers sitting at the kitchen table with her husband, the company’s CFO, as bills piled up. Instead of quitting, they doubled down on their values, expanded into new divisions and pushed forward. A turn on Shark Tank helped boost national awareness, and mail-order sales grew from a trickle into a steady stream.
But for Coffman, the heart of Blondie’s isn’t found in sales charts or store counts. It’s in moments when cookies bring comfort. She recalls being on a plane years ago when she offered a little boy a Blondie’s cookie. His mother burst into tears. The family had just lost the boy’s twin brother after months of care at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.
“She said our store across from Riley was the only thing that got her through the last six months,” Coffman says. The memory still chokes her up.
That kind of connection has kept Blondie’s steady while trends come and go. For many in Kokomo, the shop is woven into childhood mall trips and family traditions. Now, a second generation of kids is discovering the same treat.
“Novelty is fun for a first-time visit,” Coffman says. “But we depend on return business, on being there for families day after day.”
Forty years in, Blondie’s Cookies is still about simple things done well — committing to baking cookies that people love.
Blondie’s Cookies has eight Indiana shopping mall locations, including Markland Mall in Kokomo, Keystone Fashion Mall and Castleton Square Mall in Indianapolis, Greenwood Park Mall in Greenwood, College Mall in Bloomington, Glenbrook Square Mall in Fort Wayne, University Park Mall in South Bend, and Greentown. You can find more information at blondiescookies.com.
