This Once-Popular Philadelphia-Area Cookie Chain Is Closing Its Doors For Good

Taylor Chip may have been a promising brand that built a following on social media, but the Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based cookie chain recently announced its closure in an Instagram post. Fans will be able to order cookies online until 9 a.m., April 8, according to the post, and physical locations will shutter over the next few days.

Sara and Doug Taylor founded the company in 2018 by selling their creations at pop-up events. However, they soon expanded their business to physical locations. The brand's online sales grew during the COVID-19 pandemic — thanks in part to its approach of using social media to build momentum — and by 2023, Sara Taylor had landed on Forbes' "30 under 30" list that recognizes entrepreneurs. 

So what happened to cause a company with so much potential to close its doors just a few years later? "Building something from nothing means taking risks, and not every bet pays off the way you expect," Doug Taylor told ABC27 in February, after the company filed for bankruptcy. "We're proud of what we built in Philadelphia, even though it didn't work the way we hoped." On Instagram, the brand also blamed a Facebook hack for the final blow. "Overnight, 150,000 followers, millions of views, everything we had built on went to zero," the statement read. "And for a bootstrapped company where every dollar counts, that's not something you can just bounce back from."

At its height, Taylor Chip was raking in $4 million in revenue and had plans for a nationwide packaged goods expansion. The brand's financial problems had already begun, though. In 2021, the Taylors purchased a property with plans to build a creamery — but eventually abandoned the pricy project. In 2022, the company leased two locations in Philadelphia, but permit delays kept the stores from operating until two years later. By then, Taylor Chip faced stiff competition from other cookie retailers that had opened.

According to the social media response to the closure announcement, the business had serious PR problems. "I don't wish bad on anyone but can't say I'm surprised," one local posted on the r/Lancaster subreddit. The post's replies were less charitable: "Maybe if they would have treated their employees better they would have lasted a little longer," a Redditor said. Added another, "They did a tremendous job at making people hate them."

Other responses lambasted the brand's business model. "Blaming poor financial decisions on a Facebook hack is certainly a take," read a comment on the brand's Instagram account. One former fan told Reddit, "I stopped buying when they locked certain flavors behind a 'cookie club' subscription because why would I subscribe to cookies?" While some fans may miss the bakery, its closure offers the opportunity to seek out other local options. One Redditor recommended Amish bakeries or local spots like Bird in Hand Bakery and Flinchbaugh's Orchard. And, of course, you can always bake your own old-school cookies at home or head to the store — after all, Walmart recently dethroned Crumbl in one bold cookie flavor.