Dozens of dessert fans lined up outside of the new Chip City shop at the Bay Terrace Shopping Center to be one of the first customers to get some warm and gooey cookies at the grand opening on Friday, March 25.
The brick-and-mortar shop at 23-96 Bell Blvd. is the outdoor shopping center’s latest addition and the sixth Chip City to open in Queens. In January, the company welcomed a location in Forest Hills at 72-34 Austin St.
According to Chip City, the first 100 customers to the Bay Terrace store received a free cookie with their purchase. Customers had a choice of four available flavors: chocolate chip, chocolate peanut butter, cookies ‘n’ cream and oatmeal apple pie, with new flavors listed daily on Chip City’s website and Instagram account.
Many who were waiting in line, like Sherrell Jordan, live in Bayside or nearby. Jordan said that she was on her way to Bay Terrace to get cupcakes for her daughter when she saw “all this hurrah” and a line forming outside the new shop.
“I heard that the first 100 people get a free cookie and because I like free and I do like to try different things, I said, ‘Let me just stand on line and see what all the hype is about,'” Jordan said.
She told QNS that she got three flavors to try — chocolate chip, oatmeal apple pie and cookies ‘n’ cream — and planned to bring her daughter back to Chip City “if the cookies are good.”
Owners of the Bay Terrace shop along with personnel from the Cord Meyer Development Company, which owns the Bay Terrace, and Councilwoman Vickie Paladino were on hand for a ceremonial ribbon-cutting. The first few customers had the opportunity to spin a wheel to win free cookies and Chip City apparel.
The much-anticipated opening follows the appearance of the Chip City cookie van last fall, which gave patrons a taste of the delicious confections leading up to the shop’s opening.
Aurie, who works at the Bay Terrace Shopping Center and lives in the Bronx, had never heard of Chip City until she saw the van parked in the lot back in November and she recalled getting cookies there “every other week.”
Her favorite flavor is chocolate chip cookies and said that Chip’s version is “one of the best” she’s ever had.
Bayside resident Emily Nassir said that she’s had the store’s cookies “many times” before and often frequents the original location in Astoria. She told QNS that she was “excited and nervous” to have the new location in her neighborhood.
“It’s dangerous to have a cookie place so close by,” Nassir said. “I’ll be a good customer for sure.”
Nassir added that some of her favorite cookies are seasonal flavors including the rainbow cookie, Good Humor flavors and red velvet hot chocolate.
Another Bayside resident, Jade, said that she had visited Chip City locations in Williamsburg and Astoria. The cookie fan said that “you can’t go wrong” with chocolate chip cookies but was also excited to get the oatmeal apple pie flavor.
“It’s going to be so tempting [to have a store nearby] but I’m very excited about it,” she said.
Chip City in Bay Terrace is open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
