Cookies are king at Oakville bakery

June 27, 2011, Oakville, ON – Elm Hill Cookies is enjoying the success that comes from filling a niche and doing it well.

The bakeshop, located at 250 Kerr Street in Oakville, Ont., opened last year, just days before Christmas. In the months since, this bakery that boasts a cute milk and cookie bar has built a lot of buzz.

“I wanted to take something that has been around for a long, long time – something that housewives used to make and grandmothers used to make – and freshen it up just a bit,” said Elm Hill Cookies founder Janis Smith. “I wanted to do one thing and I wanted to do it better than anyone else.”

All of Elm Hill’s cookies are square, reflecting the shop's ‘no corners cut’ philosophy. Staple varieties range from the familiar – chocolate chunk – to the fantastical – carrot-pumpkin whoopie pie – with an ever-changing assortment of everything in between.

In a short time, Elm Hill Cookies has already cultivated quite a following. Bloggers and social media have helped spread the word, building the buzz around this unique bakery concept.

In March, Smith swung by Coriander Girl, a popular flower shop in Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood, to drop off a dozen cookies. Shop owner Alison Westlake blogged about the tasty treats and within 24 hours, Smith was taking a commercial real estate agent’s order for more than 5,000 cookies.

Despite the boost the online world has given business, good old word-of-mouth is still the best publicity for Elm Hill Cookies.

“We have guys that come in and say, ‘I hope you know that all the dads are talking about you at the bus stop.’ I’m just so happy to hear that and I know my staff is too,” Smith said.

“I love being up front and hearing the really positive things people say about us.”

Elm Hill Cookies founder Janis Smith shows off some of the bakery's tasty treats.