Big Sky Cookie Co. Opens In Sidney

A new store selling fresh baked and custom-decorated cookies opens its doors at 215 S Central Ave, Sidney. Customers can stop by Big Sky Cookie Co. and purchase a treat from Wednesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Plans currently to open for business starting Sat., Jan. 15.

"We are hoping to catch all kinds of customers, we may even throw in an early day - that way if someone wanted to grab treats before work they could," said owner Lisa Harrel. 

The store specializes in custom-decorated sugar cookies, large gourmet flavored cookies, bags of mini cookies, and minimally decorated sugar cookies. They have a rotating menu of assorted gourmet flavor cookies that anyone can stop in and buy.

Big Sky Cookie Co. cookies are not only known to be delicious - they are also beautiful, customizable, and can be made for any and every celebration. 

Decorating cookies was just a hobby for owner Lisa Harrel but it soon turned into a business for both her and her husband.

She said, "I kept seeing cookie decorating videos on Instagram and quickly became obsessed and I decided to start trying. I brought cookies over to a friends' BBQ in the late summer and by August I started selling "back to school" cookies and haven't stopped since."

After her husband, Ryan had an opportunity to take a superintendent job in Sidney. Lisa, her husband, and two kids packed all of their belongings and left their hometown in Oregon, where they grew up their whole lives, to move to Montana. 

"When I first started this journey, I had no idea that it would turn into this, but I kept pushing forward. I knew I would always love to have a store-front so back in April I had an idea of finding an old horse trailer to renovate into a "mobile" cookie trailer that I could really stand out at events around the area selling cookies. My parents, husband and I renovated my trailer (named Fancy) in about 3 days. While she was a fast project, she turned out so cute and really elevated my sales at pop-up events and other events in Sidney," she said. "I knew that a brick-and-mortar bakery was out of the picture for a while since most of the commercial property in Sidney is high priced. I reached out to a customer who has connections in town, and she let me know this space was coming up for rent. I immediately messaged the current tenant to get information and went to see the space a day or two later. Luckily my husband and I are DIY'ers with the help of my parents again. We completely renovated the space into more our style and what we wanted with what we had to work with, and I think it turned out well. I also have never been more excited to get all of my cookie business/ decorating supplies out of my house!"

Harrel believes that business will benefit the community by offering a variety of homemade desserts in the area. "Kids and adults can stop by to grab a sweet treat, or even before seeing a movie next door. This town needs more small businesses to keep the people and city of Sidney thriving instead of leaving town to find what they need."

For more information, check out Big Sky Cookie Co. on Instagram, Facebook, and their website at https://bigskycookieco.com/.