Huge queues for Trafford Centre's newest addition
08.03.2024 - 08:49
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
When a world famous cookie store opens its first shop in the north of England, there are likely to be queues. When that shop is inside the shopping mecca that is The Trafford Centre, well, you can guess the result.
There was a long line of customers already queuing at the Ben's Cookies stand when I arrived on Saturday, eager to get a taste of the mall's newest sweet treat.
Known for its freshly baked, handcrafted cookies, the company has been trading for 40 years, starting life as a small shop in Oxford's Covered Market in 1984.
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If the drawing of the boy eating a cookie on the branding looks familiar, that's because it was drawn by renowned illustrator Quentin Blake, mostly known for his artwork in Roald Dahl's popular children's books.
Quentin was a good friend of the company's founder, cookery writer and chocoholic Helge Rubenstein, who named the cookie firm after her son - the very subject of the logo.
But while the red and white branding and cute little tins and boxes that hold the goodies are all quite adorable, that's not really what customers are getting excited about.
It's the rave reviews of the tasty cookies that are baked on site that people are really curious about - and whether they live up to the social media hype.
Pictures showing the 14 different flavours are attached to the stall, which is in Peel Avenue, on the upper floor close to Boots and near the exit where you can walk across the bridge to Trafford Palazzo.
After a busy Saturday lunchtime, stock was running a bit low when I arrived so the self-service kiosks where you can place your orders had been temporarily switched off, to give staff chance to catch up