Cookie Chris expanding his reach to eastern Henrico

Sweets shop Cookie Chris is opening a new location at 4091 Concord Creek Place this week. The eastern Henrico outpost will be the company’s third location, alongside Short Pump and Williamsburg spots. (Jack Jacobs photo)

While still juggling a college pre-law course load, a young entrepreneur is on to his third cookie shop.

Chris Knight, who started his chain Cookie Chris in high school, is expanding with a new store at 4091 Concord Creek Place in eastern Henrico.

The 20-year-old already has a location in Short Pump and one in Williamsburg, where he started baking and selling cookies as a high school student.

The new store is opening in an outparcel at the Springdale Park development, near the Richmond Raceway. Knight said he liked the location, which fronts Mechanicsville Turnpike, for its visibility and proximity to relatively new residential development next door.

“We realized new homes were being built and it was a good area for traffic,” Knight said.

Cookie Chris serves a rotating weekly menu of six cookie flavors. Cookies are sold individually and in boxes of four, six and a dozen. The company bakes its own cookies in house, and the baked treats measuring 5 inches in diameter are sold individually at a little under $5 a pop. The stores also serve ice cream and milkshakes.

Chris Knight, owner of Cookie Chris. (Courtesy Cookie Chris)

Knight said his stores try to create a memorable experience for customers and are designed with bright colors and feature neon signs to create photo-worthy backdrops for customers to take selfies.

“Cookie Chris is a dessert shop where people come in and have an experience like no other,” he said. “We want to make sure people are greeted as soon as they walk in the door.”

Knight declined to share the investment made to launch the new eastern Henrico location. The store’s hours are planned to be 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays.

The company’s first brick-and-mortar location opened at 1408 Richmond Road Williamsburg in August 2022.

It expanded to the Richmond area in 2024 when it opened at 11571 W. Broad St. in the Short Pump Corner shopping center.

In addition to slinging cookies, Knight is a junior at Morehouse College in Atlanta, where he is a pre-law student studying philosophy. He said that juggling his studies and business is challenging and credited his ability to handle everything to his support system.

“It’s definitely hard, but I have the support of staff at the stores and family,” he said.

Knight is the sole owner of Cookie Chris and said he plans to franchise the business. The Williamsburg-based company has 15 employees.

The upcoming Cookie Chris fills out the last remaining storefront in the retail outparcel at the Springdale development. The cookie shop is in the 1,200-square-foot B suite, which is between the Dunkin’ location, which was the first business to open at the outparcel about a year ago, and barbershop Clippers. Also in the strip is a Wingstop restaurant.

Cookie Chris isn’t the only newcomer slated to open in that section of Mechanicsville Turnpike. A Chipotle is planned to be built on an adjacent parcel, and it’s anticipated to open this fall, according to a sign on the property.

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