Bringing joy in the form of cookies is important to Kristy and Pat Rigdon. After spending time in high-stress jobs, they wanted to open a business that would both be pleasing to them and uplift the community. They found that balance in opening a location for Mary’s Mountain Cookies in Colorado Springs.
Kristy Rigdon said she and her husband were at a point in their careers where they were ready to do something different. Pat had been a deputy chief for the Colorado Springs Police Department and had been in law enforcement for 30 years. Kristy had been an educator, principal, and district administrator in the school system.
They had always thought Mary’s Mountain Cookies (founded by Mary Johns in 1991 in Fort Collins) would work well in Colorado Springs. The Rigdon family was introduced to Mary’s when they used to visit Breckenridge (in a location that no longer exists). Later their daughter went to Colorado State University in Fort Collins. Rigdon and her husband would joke with their daughter: “Don’t come home unless you have Mary’s Mountain Cookies with you!”
So when they reached out to Johns about opening a location in the Springs and then met with her, everything seemed to fall into place. “It fit the criteria we were looking for as far as doing something different that was fun, brought joy to others, and allowed us to contribute to our community.”
Bringing Mary’s Mountain Cookies to Downtown
The Rigdons wanted to find a downtown location since they had also lived in the Old North End for eight years. Johns, who had stopped looking at expansion inquiries when their proposal came in, told the Rigdons, “Timing is everything.”
The Rigdons’ proposal struck a chord for some reason and the downtown area in the Springs was expanding. “The business side of it made sense. We really liked her. She seemed to like us. And our previous work experience and leadership skills, just transfer nicely into running this business.” They opened their location in July 2022.
Rigdon says that it is also a creative outlet because she does a lot of decorating and putting packages together. But she says rather than creating their own business from scratch, they looked for a franchise or a licensing situation. “Mary’s was nice and packaged. She is a great partner in what we do in the store.” It is not a traditional franchise because it is directly connected with the founder ensuring a texture of authenticity.
“Mary’s very responsive and, as far as our guests and our customers, we really just wanted to go for that ‘Wow!’ factor when they walk in the store because that was something that drew us to Mary’s, to begin with, with our kids.”
“Going to Mary’s was an experience. So we really aim for, when people come downtown, they’ve got to go to Mary’s. That’s kind of our goal.” Rigdon describes, when customers walk into their store, that there is a cookie case full of 24 varieties of cookies.
“And when we say Mary’s Mountain Cookies, we mean it. Our cookies weigh over a quarter of a pound and they are delicious. It’s just visual, the sight, and then the smell when you walk in, you smell delicious cookies baking all day … it’s really a visceral experience.”
“We haven’t made a cookie I don’t like!”
Rigdon says they haven’t made a cookie that she hasn’t liked. “And we do like taste tests with our team before we put stuff out. I mean, we’ve always loved sweets and cookies and stuff in general, but also it’s about the joy too that cookies bring. It reminds people of home and growing up and speaking with their grandparents or their moms.”
Rigdon says one of the surprising things for her is how often people come in and are nostalgic for a certain cookie that they have in their case. “Because it would always be something they make or have on a snow day or on holiday with their grandparents or their grandmother.”
“I think the ones that people are really nostalgic for are snickerdoodles, which have cinnamon and sugar on top and are super tasty. And then any time we change our frosted sugar design, those go out the door.”
During the holiday season, people loved their frosted sugar Christmas tree cookies. “I don’t know if it’s something about the shape or the time of year.” Another cookie that will be coming back is their s’more cookies. “We make a s’more cookie, which has a graham cracker on the bottom, and then a chocolate chip cookie, and then it’s topped with Hershey’s chocolate, marshmallows, and another graham cracker on top, and then drizzled again with chocolate. Tourists love that. Locals love that. And it really fits our mountain theme.”
Creating a Unique Experience
Rigdon says that something else that makes their store unique besides walking in and seeing the cookie case is that they have their dough room in the front window. “People walking down the street can see us making dough almost daily right there in the front window, which is cool because then people know that it’s made right on site. It’s all fresh. Nothing is shipped in.”
The Rigdons also partnered with Josh & John’s, which is a local ice cream creamery in town. “We have their ice cream and they use our cookies to make their ice cream sandwiches. We also have ice cream sandwiches available as well as party trays, edible cookie dough, and big celebration cookies.”
Rigdon says their varieties of cookies change seasonally. “You know they’re going to be around for a while. They’re not going to be there one week and then gone the next.”
Rigdon says that every day, they learn something new. “I think the most surprising and wonderful thing about opening Mary’s is the connections that we’ve made with people in our community. When you’re in law enforcement, that’s your community, right? When you’re in education, that’s mostly who you hang out with. But through opening this store, our community has brought us so much.”
Rigdon says building this business in the Springs has really been a joy. She says it has been a lot of hard work. “Starting a business is not easy. But also we could not have asked for a better start. Everything just seemed to fall in place.” She says they have an awesome team of young people that work for them. “And it’s just grown. And we’ve been just busy enough – and we’re super grateful for all of our friends and family and the community that’s come in and just really supported us.”
