Tacoma dessert shop with edible cookie dough, ice cream closing its doors

Cookie Dough Delight, a dessert shop with scoops of both edible cookie dough and ice cream, pies and baked cookies, will close in Tacoma’s Stadium District just before the end of the year.

Owners Stephanie and Joel DeWitt announced the decision on Facebook and Instagram last week. The final day for their treats will be Sunday, Dec. 28.

“Running a small business has become increasingly challenging due to rising operational costs and the realities many small businesses are facing today,” they wrote. “We are incredibly grateful for every customer who has supported us, shared kind words, and enjoyed our treats over the years.”

The DeWitts opened the shop as a franchise of Cookie Dough Bliss in 2021 at 634 N. 1st St. That chain, based in North Carolina, was quite young at the time, having launched in 2017. It had grown to a few dozen locations in recent years but also appears to have experienced other closures and re-brandings. A location outside of Boise, Idaho, remains open, but a store near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, closed in 2024, according to local news reports. The Cookie Dough Bliss website lists a number of locations in various states as “coming soon.”

The Tacoma owners canned the franchise idea a couple of years in, developing their own concept called Cookie Dough Delight. They also ran a bubble-gum-pink mobile trailer at local events.

In a phone call on Wednesday, Joel DeWitt said the trailer’s focus on “fairs, festivals and events” kept them busy nearly every weekend from April to October. It was profitable, he said, but the brick-and-mortar was not.

“The rent is just way too high,” he said, and foot traffic was lacking.

That area of the Stadium District — for years caught in construction of the now-open Link extension — has lost several businesses since 2022, including a Starbucks and longtime diner Harvester. Earlier this year, Art House Cafe closed along with cocktail bar Gilman House Room 428 and Poquitos/Stadium Golf. Moshi Ramen Bar also closed as new owners bought that business and its sibling, Indo Street Asian Eatery, which continues.

Not every storefront is empty, though, or won’t be for long: Sandwich Starr moved into the old Anthem Coffee across the street, and a high-profile Seattle burger chain, Lil Woody’s, plans to open at 29 N. Tacoma Ave. next year.

DeWitt added that they noticed another downturn after Stadium Golf permanently closed over the summer. What will become of that large space, above the cookie-dough shop, remains to be seen.

Cookie Dough Delight (Wednesday-Friday 3-9 p.m., Saturday-Sunday 1-9 p.m.) will offer discounts through their last day. The DeWitts are considering trying to sell the business for its recipes and branding, or renting a commissary kitchen to continue operating the trailer.

This story was originally published December 17, 2025 at 1:41 PM.