[WOW] Cookie Franchise Empire Starting to "Crumbl"

The Crumbl cookie fad appears to be headed the way of the cupcake and froyo fads of years past.  The Utah-based franchise has had a tough year with sales at its stores plunging and dozens of franchisees throwing in the towel and shutting down.  

Three Atlanta area locations have closed since August, and now two more Atlanta area franchises are slated to shutter in November.  

Vision Food Group, an Atlanta-based firm, opened their first Crumbl franchise in Marietta in August 2020 and today operates seven Crumbl franchises (in addition to three Dave's Hot Chicken restaurants), but plans to close two Crumbl shops on November 7.

The two Crumbl shops slated for closure are located in Sandy Springs (5948 Roswell Road) and Flowery Branch (5887 Spout Springs Road) and opened in February 2023 and May 2023, respectively.   Following the two closures, Vision will continue to operate Crumbl units in Marietta, Kennesaw, Snellville, Buford and Lawrenceville.  Separate franchisees of the brand operate another twenty or so locations across the state.

2023 was seemingly a cursed year to open a new Crumbl as in addition to the Sandy Springs and Flowery Branch closures, locations in Savannah, Douglasville and Augusta that opened in April, May and July 2023, respectively, have all closed in recent weeks.  Another location that opened in the Johns Creek / Suwanee area in May 2023, was closed by the end of the year!  

Cousins Sawyer Hemsley and Jason McGowan opened the first location in a converted former Dominos Pizza in Logan, Utah in 2017.  Within just a couple of years, Crumbl was the envy of the franchise world and was growing by leaps and bounds.    

Crumbl went from just 55 stores in 2019 to 327 by 2021, to more than 1,000 by 2024.  The chain ended 2025 with 1,101 locations, according to published reports.   

The chain could easily enter 2027 with fewer than 1,000 locations with more than seventy closures already this year and nearly sixty more stores nationwide being offered for sale. 

Published reports indicate that both sales and traffic at the average Crumbl location are down 30 per cent year over year.  

As recently as January 2025, Crumbl was looking to sell with a reported valuation of nearly $2 billion, imputing a valuation over 10 times its nearly $150 million annual EBITDA.  The company sold a minority stake to TSG Consumer Partners in May 2025 but its value has no doubt decreased in the nearly two years since.  

Crumbl launched its own line of "dirty sodas" in August in an attempt to revive sales and increase visit frequency.  The debut has not gone as planned with significant backlash with the realization that some of its 32 ounce sodas contain as much as 186 grams of sugar.  The only Atlanta area location offering the sodas is the Toco Hills shop on North Druid Hills Road, according to the Crumbl website.  

Related: Swig entered the Atlanta market in September and has several more units planned 

Back in Sandy Springs, Crumbl is one of two second generation restaurant spaces available in the Whole Foods + Marshalls + HomeGoods anchored Hammond Exchange shopping center.  Tuza Taco (in the former Cafe at Pharr space) two doors down from Crumbl, closed earlier this year.  

Why do you think Crumbl is struggling?  Have you tried the Crumbl dirty sodas?  Who in metro Atlanta do you think makes the best cookies?

Please share your thoughts below.