a shared kitchen space in 
Southfield. As the business 
grew, a website was established, 
and Roumayah began fulfilling 
catering and wholesale orders, 
the cookie business got to a 
point where it needed its own 
roof over its head.
“We worked like that for 
about two or three years prior to 
opening our first retail location 
in Ferndale,
” Roumayah says. 
The Ferndale flagship opened 
its doors to the public in 2017, 
becoming an instant hit in the 
Metro Detroit community and 
beyond.
“Everyone was so supportive,
” 
Roumayah recalls. “My whole 
goal was to be a neighborhood 
joint where people would come 
in for their morning cup of cof-
fee and/or afternoon cookie, and 
that truly happened.
”

A CRASH COURSE IN 
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Now, some of Roumayah’s top 

clientele at Detroit Cookie Co. 
are also her closest friends. 
Yet launching the business 
didn’t come without hurdles. “I 
wasn’t used to being an entre-
preneur,” she says. “It was a 
huge task for me.”
Roumayah put her life 
savings into the Ferndale 
location, with the hope that 
the investment would one day 
pay off. “I had to quit my job 
when we opened the bakery,” 
she continues. “I couldn’t rely 
on the steady income I was 
used to having.”
As an entrepreneur, 
Roumayah says “you do 
everything yourself.” The big-
gest challenge, she explains, 
was keeping her head up 
through the early days with 
the belief that she’d eventually 
be able to hire help. Taking 
that chance, however, was 
worth it.
Detroit Cookie Co. con-
tinued to grow. As she had 

hoped, Roumayah was able to 
hire the help she needed. After 
two years of steady sales, she 
and Tony began to look for a 
second shopfront to scale the 
business. In 2021, they opened 
a second location in downtown 
Ann Arbor, followed by a third 
location in Grand Rapids later 
that year.
Now, Detroit Cookie Co. is a 
sweet-tooth favorite through-
out Michigan and beyond. 

They have a steady social 
media following and have even 
been featured on the Cooking 
Channel. Yet Roumayah says 
the work is far from done.
“We want to solidify our 
franchise model,” she explains. 
“We’re hoping to provide the 
opportunity for other people 
to open Detroit Cookie Co. 
across the country.”
The dream, Roumayah says, 
is “to be a household brand.” 

APRIL 21 • 2022 | 41

Supported through the generosity of The Jewish Fund and the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Family Foundation.

 
 
 
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