MIDDLEBURY — If you’re tuned into an oldies station, you’re bound to eventually hear Jackie DeShannon or Dionne Warwick soothingly intone the verse, “What the world needs now, is love, sweet love.”

While songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David had something deeper in mind with their tune, a well-established local entrepreneur plans on bringing some sweet love to downtown Middlebury — “Vermont Cookie Love,” to be specific.

Vermont Cookie Love — known for cookies, ice cream, creemees and other sweet treats — has built a loyal clientele since opening in its “Love Shack” headquarters at 6915 Route 7 in North Ferrisburgh, back in 2009.

And here’s the latest scoop: Vermont Cookie Love owner Matt Bonoma has purchased the 40 Main St. building in Middlebury that most recently housed Chim Chimney Bakery. That’s where he’s laying the groundwork for a second Cookie Love location.

“We’re still in the very early stages,” Bonoma cautioned during a phone interview on Monday. “The building needs some work to make it ready for what we want to do with it. There’s all sorts of equipment we’ve got to get in and electrical rewiring, and (contractors) are busy. We’ve just started down (the expansion) road.”

He stressed the North Ferrisburgh Cookie Love will continue operations. The new Middlebury store will provide the same goods and services, but could eventually add some additional, as-yet-undefined sweet flourishes over time, according to Bonoma.

And Vermont Cookie Love leaders are committed to taking all the time needed to ensure the Middlebury store has a proper foundation and launch.

“My hope is that we’re going to be in a position to open sometime later this year, but it could be a year-plus,” he said. “We’re trying to do this well, rather than go too fast and stub our toe.”

Vermont Cookie Love calls itself an “artisan bakery and legendary ice cream stand.”

“We started as a vendor at the Shelburne Farmers’ Market and quickly grew to a hopping ice cream stand and gourmet cookie bakery,” reads the business’s origin story on its website. “Through all our years in business, we continue to use the highest quality ingredients and work with Vermont-based farms and suppliers whenever possible.”

The new Middlebury Cookie Love, like its North Ferrisburgh sibling, will be open year-round, when customers will have access to the store’s baked goods, frozen cookie dough and hard ice cream. Creemees will be available for around nine months out of the year. Bonoma explained that Cookie Love sources the best creemee mix available and must achieve a certain sales threshold to make that investment financially viable. As one can imagine, the demand for creemees wanes during the of winter.

Vermont Cookie Love describes its mission as:

• Producing the “best all-natural frozen cookie dough available on the market, with an emphasis on using the highest quality Vermont-based ingredients possible.”
• Serving “the most delicious, all-natural ice cream sourced at local dairy farms, with an emphasis on homemade sauces and toppings.”
• Building a “conscious, values-based company committed to minimizing our environmental footprint and being a positive force in the community and the world.”

The business primarily uses locally sourced, non-GMO and organic ingredients, according to its website. Vermont Cookie Love takes gift package orders for its cookies, which are sent far and wide in packaging that’s 95% compostable. The business’s bowls, spoons, cups and napkins are 100% compostable, according to company literature.

Folks who haven’t yet visited Cookie Love might still have tasted their cookies. The business partners with several area schools on fundraisers, through which students gather funds through the sale of Cookie Love cookie dough — provided by the store at a substantially discounted rate.

Speaking of dough, that was the staple product of 40 Main St.’s previous occupant. Chim Chimney closed recently after a brief run. Chelsea Griggs and Travis Armistice launched Chim Chimney last year after having acquired 40 Main St. during the spring of 2023 from Main Street Stationery owners Greg and Barbara Tomb. That business specialized in a Hungarian confection known as Kürtőskalács, or “chimney cakes,” into which sweet or savory items — like ice cream, fruit or cheese — can be added.

Bonoma said the Cookie Love team had spent the past three years searching for a good expansion spot.

“(48 Main St.) checks more boxes than anywhere else so far,” he said.

Bonoma believes Cookie Love and Middlebury will be a tasty match. He hopes to share more details in the near future.

“We’re working as hard and as fast as a very small team can, while running a business full-time already,” Bonoma said. “We are thrilled to have this opportunity in Middlebury. What a neat town. My sense is that Cookie Love will be a good fit and a good member of the community.”

Kathryn Torres, co-director of the Better Middlebury Partnership, said she’s thrilled Cookie Love has picked the shire town for a new store.

“We think it will really add to the mix of what’s available in downtown Middlebury,” said Torres, who envisions Cookie Love customers enjoying their cookies and creemees in nearby Triangle Park, then checking out other stores. “We think they’ll be bringing in people who might not otherwise come to Middlebury.”

Reporter John Flowers is at [email protected].