Cookies by Design keeps its gifts man-friendly by using sports team logos. Its Thunder cookies were the top seller of all NBA logos nationwide.
Leave a comment When Cookies by Design introduced Oklahoma City Thunder basketball cookies late in the season, fans thought they were sweet.
Because the company secures the licensing rights to team logos, a somewhat lengthy process, Cookies by Design rolled out its Thunder cookies right before the playoffs began. Despite the late start, Thunder cookies outsold every other NBA team nationwide, said company chief executive Jack Long.
An Oklahoma City Thunder-themed cookie basket from Cookies by Design.Photo PROVIDED
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Cookies by Design
•Locations: 120 nationwide
•In Oklahoma: Crossroads Mall in Oklahoma City and The Farm Shopping Center in Tulsa.
•Cost: $16 and up. The most popular seven-cookie bouquet is around $55.
Source: Cookies by Design
Sales were helped by a large order from Thunder team owner Clay Bennett, who purchased 2,000 cookies to serve to guests in the executive suites during the two Finals home games, Long said. He even bought some Miami Heat cookies for their team’s guests.
“It was nice to know that a small-market logo across the country was a top seller,†he said.
Based in Dallas, Cookies by Design started in Oklahoma and founder Gwen Willhite’s daughter and granddaughter operate the Tulsa location.
Willhite said she came up with the idea for the company while working a regular desk job and noticing how embarrassed men in her office were receiving a delivery of flowers or balloons. So she crafted a cookie recipe, and â€" perhaps more importantly â€" perfected the art of putting her cookies on a stick.
She opened her first store in 1983 in Catoosa, then added a store in Tulsa. Originally the cookies were decorated with candy and the designs were mostly feminine.
“We went back to Gwen’s roots and decided to man up a bit,†Long said.
That’s where sports licensing came in. Long said Cookies by Design holds licensing for most professional sports teams, including those in the NCAA, NBA, NFL and MLB, adding that it’s the only cookie company to “have them all.†Nonsports licenses include Disney, Garfield and Winnie the Pooh.
Licensing fees are paid per cookie, he said. Cookies by Design stores have a machine that prints images with edible ink, so each time a worker makes a Thunder logo, for example, the fee is automatically submitted.
Sports franchises are protective of their rights and want each logo precise, which is why Cookies by Design prints them out rather than drawing them by hand, which is done for certain images, such as those owned by Disney, Long said.
Others avoid licensing, logos
During the Thunder’s recent season, many businesses got in the spirit by selling themed merchandise, including other cookie companies and cupcake shops. When contacted for this story, several said they didn’t have official licensing and weren’t aware they needed it.
Terry Duff, a franchisee of four mall-based cookie stores, including Mrs. Fields at Penn Square Mall, said during the playoffs, his stores sold hand-iced cookies featuring the Thunder logo and phrases like “Go Thunder!†as well as images of some of the players. Obtaining licensing rights, he said, for a handful of products “wouldn’t be worth the time and effort.â€
He said if NBA officials were to crack down on everything Thunder-related, it would kill the city’s team spirit.
“I think everybody’s intent is good,†he said. “We didn’t intend to violate any laws.â€
Local Gigi’s Cupcakes franchisee J. Brent Clark said his stores decorate cupcakes with Thunder colors and basketballs but no logos. Clark, who is also an attorney, said he’s never been approached about needing licensing and his stores have even delivered cupcakes to the Thunder team offices.
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