Woodkirk Stone
A year ago, Katie Cooper had “nothing to do”. Thanks to a family recipe, her pretzel business is now booming and looking to grow even more.
CHARLOTTE, NC — A Charlotte mom used COVID-19 to start a snack business that’s been so successful she has more orders than she can fill.
Queen’s City Crunch is a pretzel company that was started by a stay-at-home mom for stay-at-home moms. Katie Cooper started the business at the height of the pandemic and now she navigates her growing sales after finding the recipe for success.
“For seasoned pretzels, we crush them, season them, bake them and then repackage them,” Cooper said.
She officially launched Queen’s City Crunch a year ago after realizing an old family treat could be so much more.
“My mom made them forever,” Cooper said of Queen City Crunch’s signature Cajun pretzels. “We had friends and family asking for them, so last year, being at home doing nothing, I decided to start the business.”
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Cooper created a website, which grew into a small business based in his kitchen. She wasn’t expecting much. Needless to say, sales exceeded his wildest dreams.
“It happened organically and started to grow,” she said. “I learned so much along the way.”
Cooper now rents space in a shared commercial kitchen and her pretzels are sold at 100 different retailers across the Carolinas, but she wants to do more.
“We have some large orders that we could potentially have, it’s just to be able to capitalize on that,” Cooper said. “We need a bagger, [and] our own space, so lots of irons in the fire.”
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Cooper says she now hopes to find investors to help take her and her family to the next level.
“It’s surreal. It’s been an incredible journey,” she said. “I love being able to show my daughter that she’s starting a business from scratch and not taking no for an answer. It’s been a great journey.”
Currently, Queen City Crunch is renting out its kitchen space. Cooper says she is considering another space she owns that would be able to produce more orders.
Charlotte Mom’s business sees significant growth during COVID-19
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