An unexpected tenant has been added to the roster at the Edgewood Retail District (ERD): stuffed cookie franchise Dirty Dough. Another player in the gourmet cookie space, Dirty Dough currently has two stores in Georgia but none in metro Atlanta.
The Tempe, Arizona-based franchise is due to occupy a space most recently home Amir's Nitrogen Ice Cream, and before that, Cupcake People. The shoebox-sized space is between Great Clips and Jersey Mike's Subs and across from would-be rival sweet shop, Cinnaholic.
Dirty Dough started as a delivery-only service out of a dorm room at Arizona State University in 2018. Rival cookie concept Crumbl also started in 2018, but in a converted former Domino's Pizza near Utah State University in Logan, Utah. Crumbl sued Dirty Dough in May 2022, alleging theft of trade secrets, among other claims. The two businesses settled in August 2023, with Crumbl declaring victory.
(Warner Music Group sued Crumbl for $24M in April alleging unauthorized use of music by artists such as Taylor Swift, Lizzo and Beyoncé in its TikTok posts.)
Although started the same year, each brand has had vastly different franchise success.
Crumbl counts nearly 1,100 locations globally, the majority of which are across the U.S., including three dozen in Georgia. Dirty Dough currently has 68 units open and ten more "coming soon," according to the company's website. (The Edgewood store is not yet listed on the website.)
Dirty Dough's Georgia units in Augusta and Dalton opened in December 2023 and February 2025 respectively. A third location in Roswell opened in early December 2023 but closed by the end of March 2024. (Crumbl, too, had a surprisingly short stay in Suwanee where a franchise opened May 26, 2023 but was closed by October 2023).
Following the settlement of the Crumbl lawsuit, Dirty Dough received a significant investment from multi-concept franchise group Craveworthy Brands in January 2024 and was acquired entirely by the firm this past September. Craveworthy's stable of brands includes Genghis Grill, BD’s Mongolian Grill, Budlong Southern Chicken, Wing It On!, Taim Mediterranean Kitchen and Hot Chicken Takeover.
Dirty Dough's decision to open in a such a small space within such a competitive intown market is a bit of a head-scratcher. In addition to larger rivals like Crumbl, local favorite Sugar Shane's operates four locations around metro Atlanta - inside Ponce City Market among them - and has a devoted local following.
Have you had cookies from Dirty Dough? Do you think Dirty Dough will do well in the Edgewood Retail District? Who in Atlanta do you think makes the best cookie?
Please share your thoughts below.
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