If you are a Starkville resident who likes the idea of getting fresh baked cookies delivered to your home until 3 a.m., you are in luck.
It appears Insomnia Cookies is opening a location in the Cotton Mill Drive shopping center. The eatery’s signage is on a door there. And job postings have been popping up online recently indicating that the Pennsylvania-based company is coming to town.
Insomnia Cookies is a late-night bakery founded in 2003 in a University of Pennsylvania dorm room by a student named Seth Berkowitz. The bakery specializes in delivering cookies and is typically open from 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. everyday. Its Facebook page reads: “Warm. Delicious. Delivered.” Customers can place orders online. The menu includes everything from sugar cookies to “Snickerdoodle” cookies to oatmeal raisin cookies to ice cream cookies to brownies to ice cream, according to the bakery’s corporate website.
There are 50-plus locations across the U.S. The Starkville location would be the first in Mississippi.
The Dispatch reached out Wednesday to Insomnia Cookies’ corporate offices in New York City. Company officials did not respond to questions — including when the eatery may open and how many people it will employ — by press time.
Staying in Starkville, a new formal wear store has opened.
“It’s a Date!” is located downtown at 122 E. Main St. The business offers bridal gowns, pageant dresses, prom and party dresses, shoes, jewelry and tuxedo rentals. The lines carried include Maggie Sottero, Bonny Bridal, Kenneth Winston and Jovani. They also offer pageant coaching for all age groups.
The doors opened in March. The owners are Karol Crowder and Leigh Imes. (Full disclosure: Leigh Imes is the sister-in-law of The Dispatch’s editor and publisher.)
The store employs four people.
Moving on.
H&R Agri-Power, a farm equipment dealer based in Kentucky, has acquired Black Prairie Tractor in Columbus.
The acquisition was completed Monday. Black Prairie Tractor is located at 901 Hwy. 45 N.
Under H&R Agri-Power, the business will continue to offer Ferris, Stihl and Zimmatic lines, as well as a full line of Case IH and Kubota equipment. The irrigation team from Black Prairie will lead H&R Agri-Power’s irrigation division.
“With two top-notch groups of employees joining forces, we feel that our organization will be better equipped to serve this region,” Marty Sanders, H&R Agri-Power’s Columbus area complex manager, said in a statement.
Lastly, a little banking news.
BankFirst, a 127-year-old bank headquartered in Columbus, and Newton County Bank have plans to merge during the third quarter of 2015 and continue on as BankFirst.
The merger will establish BankFirst as an entity with total assets in excess of $875 million and 18 total branches across 10 Mississippi counties. This will make BankFirst the 11th largest Mississippi-based banking institution, according to a media release.
Newton County Bank was founded in 1912 and operates in Newton, Jasper and Scott counties.
Browning on Business is a weekly column that runs each Thursday. We want your input. Send items and tips to [email protected] or [email protected].
William Browning was managing editor for The Dispatch until June 2016.
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