Chip City cookie chain expanding on Long Island | Long Island Business News

After opening its first two Long Island stores last year, the Chip City cookie chain is doubling down on its area expansion. 

The New York City-based company will soon open new locations in Merrick and East Northport, and it will also add stores in Huntington and North Babylon later this year. 

Chip City’s new Merrick store is opening in a few weeks in a 1,000-square-foot retail space at 2012 Merrick Road and the chain’s new East Northport store is expected to open around the same time in a 600-square-foot space at 1945 Jericho Turnpike. In 2022, Chip City opened its first Long Island stores in Oceanside and Garden City. 

The Chip City concept was born in a tiny 250-square-foot pop-up location in Astoria in July 2017, as childhood friends Peter Phillips and Teddy Gailas tested their cookie-making skills. 

“The thing took off,” says Phillips, now the company’s CEO. And after surviving through the COVID-19 pandemic, the fledgling concept was primed for expansion. “We decided to double down and get aggressive.” 

A former commercial real estate broker, Phillips heads a construction firm, and his business partner Gailas has a background in food and hospitality, as his family owned and operated diners in Manhattan. 

Known for its variety of unique cookie flavors, Chip City features seasonal offerings that are only available once a year, including its version of the black-and-white cookie, a baklava cookie for Greek Easter, an Italian rainbow cookie in the summer, and Good Humor-inspired cookies that include Strawberry Shortcake, Toasted Almond and Chocolate Éclair. But its best seller remains the chocolate chip, which accounts for about half of all the chain’s sales. 

The dough for all of the chain’s cookies are made in its 18,000-square-foot kitchen facility in College Point and the cookies are freshly baked at each of its retail locations. 

Chip City has been bolstered by a $10 million investment from Enlightened Hospitality, the venture capital arm of Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer. That has fueled the company’s recent growth and future expansion plans. 

With 18 stores open in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, New Jersey and on Long Island, the company has ambitious plans for growth. Chip City has 19 more stores in development and expects to have nearly 40 open by the end of 2023. 

“We anticipate having 100 stores open by the end of next year,” Phillips told LIBN. 

To help further its growth, Chip City is offering franchises to entrepreneurs for future stores. The initial investment to open a Chip City franchise is expected to cost around $350,000 and the average per-store annual sales volume is about $900,000. Each of the chain’s stores employs eight to 10 people. 

With Chip City expecting to have six locations opened on Long Island by the end of the year, the company is eyeing an even larger presence here. 

“We’ll definitely be adding more locations on Long Island,” Phillips said. “I think there is still room to grow.” 

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