It is getting late on a weeknight and the Rowan campus is going quiet from the hustle and bustle of the day. You may be craving a snack after the busy day you had but most places are closing for the night. Then you remember one place that is conveniently on Rowan Boulevard and is open into the early morning to satisfy your taste buds.

Cookie Munchers, located between the Enterprise Building and Lush Nails and Spa, is a shop that sells a variety of delicious desserts and treats.

The business was started by Cassie Aran and Brandon Lucante, two Rowan University students who graduated in 2016. Cookie Munchers began as a website and late night delivery service, running out of the kitchen of Ry’s Bagels in Glassboro.

“We had this crazy idea to sell cookies and decided to go for it,” says Lucante. “Cassie called about 100 people and found Ryan from Ry’s Bagels. He is awesome and gave us a chance and agreed to let us use his kitchen during his off hours.”

Instead of sleeping, Aran and Lucante spent a couple nights a week, from about 7 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. baking and delivering cookies.

“For about nine months we did that,” says Lucante. “In the beginning, it was an absolute mess…like complete chaos.”

After the nine months working out of Ry’s, Aran and Lucante began a Kickstarter campaign to open a stand-alone store. In one month, the campaign raised over $11,000 from 137 supporters. The business was growing fast and so was the demand.

“We went around, looked at some of the properties, did the whole negotiation thing which was fun,” said Lucante. “We’ve been YouTubing and vlogging behind the scenes.”

Cookie Munchers opened its first location, on Rowan Boulevard, in November of 2017. To this day, they continue operating in the late night hours, closing at 1:30 a.m. on Sunday-Tuesday and 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday-Saturday.

Besides cookies, Cookie Munchers offers ice cream (a la mode or separate), mini and regular cakes, coffee, hot chocolate and milk. Katelyn Viscusi, general manager of Cookie Munchers, says the cookies are the most popular item.

“Definitely either our chocolate chip cookie or our M&M cookie,” says Viscusi. “It’s just our base dough and then we add chocolate chips.”



On the review website, Yelp, Cookie Munchers has 20 reviews and 3.5 stars out of 5. Jasmine V., from Sewell, NJ, gives 5 stars and says, “Delicious! Would come again! The cookies are so delicious and filled with taste.”

Another reviewer, Hailey S. from Absecon, NJ, gives 4 stars out of 5 and says, “I love having the option of having a great late night snack delivered to my room. They have the kindest employees. The only thing is I prefer cookies to be ‘fluffier’. They are good cookies just very thin and crisp (Most of them).”

To order from Cookie Munchers, you can walk in to the store or order online. A delivery option is available but not just to Rowan residents.

“We have a 4 mile radius for deliveries,” says Viscusi. “We deliver to campus and then Pitman, and then parts of Clayton and maybe Sewell, like certain parts.”

There are no promotions and discounts offered with deliveries but combos are available on the in-store menu.

“We do have four different combos that you can come in and it comes out to like 10% off each cookie if you use one of the combos,” said Viscusi.

The crew at Cookie Munchers are very active online and on social media. On their website, you can look at the menu and order. Also, their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages are full of delicious photos, events, promotions and contests.

Owners, Cassie and Brandon, created a YouTube channel in 2015, to give a unique look into their lives as they created the Cookie Munchers brand. They continue posting content to this present day.

A second Cookie Munchers location will be opening soon in Tampa, FL.