How a Phoenix mom is revolutionizing the cookie scene one vending machine at a time

Keys jingled in Parshé Johnson’s hands as she searched for the one that opens her custom cookie vending machine, nestled in a corner of the Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Center in south Phoenix. When she located the correct key, Johnson opened the bright pink box to reveal rows of gourmet treats she baked herself. They represent a project six years in the making.

While she had always baked treats for the holidays, Johnson hadn’t considered turning a profit from her passion until her husband brought home jarred desserts that were being offered at the barber shop where he works.

“Something just sparked in me,” Johnson said. “I was like, oh my God, I could do this. These are great, but I think I can do them even better, so I was like, I’m going to do it.”

Becoming the 'cookie lady' of south Phoenix

Johnson turned to her Facebook friends and asked if they would support her if she made her seasonal hobby into a full-fledged business. With many responding positively, Johnson took the plunge by cutting back her hours at the Costco where she's worked for 22 years to spend more time baking in her home kitchen.

With the help of her daughters 18-year-old Rhyan and 15-year-old Rhylee acting as her sous chefs, Johnson got to work mixing up brownie batter and cookie dough, labelling packages and readying orders for farmers markets and craft shows.

With a burgeoning business venture on her hands, Johnson knew her company needed a name. She decided on Sugar Star Sweet Treats in honor of the nickname her father bestowed on her when she was a little girl.

“He worked at Smitty’s, the grocery store here back in the day, (and) him and his friend that he worked with both had daughters,” Johnson said. “One of his friends nicknamed his daughter ‘Sugar something’ and then my dad was like, ‘Well I’m gonna nickname my baby Sugar Star.’ And when I was thinking of a name for a business, I wanted to pay homage to him and I just thought that, you know, the fact that it had ‘sugar’ in it, as a dessert business, (it) kind of just went together really well.”

Pizza, pretzels, burritos and brisket: 26 new restaurants are now open in metro Phoenix

Over time, and after experimenting with countless recipes for a variety of desserts, Johnson said she gained a reputation as the “cookie lady.”

“They just became my biggest seller,” Johnson said. “People would see me and they’re like, ‘Oh, she’s the one that makes some really good chocolate chip cookies. I just enjoyed making them so much and like how happy they made people.”

Since chocolate chip cookies were the dessert she enjoyed baking the most, when it came time to take her business to the next level, Johnson honed in on the classic confection.

“I was just like, ‘What else could I do?’ And I’ve been seeing machines with desserts in them. I’ve been seeing machines with cake in them, cupcakes, stuff like that, and I was like, I want to do a cookie vending machine.”

Vending machines were Johnson's way into the baking retail scene

After doing some research and choosing a vending machine company to partner with, Johnson ended up with a vending machine capable of holding 360 of her gourmet cookies. The machine cost $16,000 and is outfitted with slots tailored to fit her cookies’ width and depth specifically and it holds them at room temperature, around 23 degrees Celsius.

When her cookies and vending machine were ready to hit the streets, Johnson considered the location carefully. She piloted her vending machine at her daughters’ school, but despite interest from the girls’ friends, the cookies weren’t selling as rapidly as Johnson hoped.

Instead of becoming deterred, Johnson kept looking and eventually fielded interest from Jorge Andrade, director of the Kroc Center in south Phoenix.

At least 7,000 people are members of the Kroc Center and benefit from the center’s heat relief initiatives, worship services, fitness programs, reduced-price day camps for children, indoor water park and other programs. The center provides a safe space for residents and fosters community-building.

“When she came to us about possibly putting her vending machine here, we thought, what a great opportunity for us … a woman-owned business, (a) woman being from south Phoenix,’” Andrade said. “It really represents who we are, what we’re trying to do. It’s a phenomenal partnership for us to build.”

In exchange for hosting the machine, the Kroc Center takes a percentage of the machine’s revenue, rather than a fixed monthly rate. The Kroc Center was so enthusiastic about the partnership, they also offered Johnson access to their commercial kitchen so she can bake the cookies onsite.

For Johnson, a native of south Phoenix, being able to sell her cookies in a place that serves a community close to her heart was a perfect fit.

“My grandmother owned property right over here on Broadway; my dad grew up right down the street,” Johnson said. “It’s my connection to south Phoenix that I feel really strongly about. I’m just very passionate about seeing people from our neighborhoods go on to be successful and go on to start businesses with limited resources because we don’t come from any money.”

Sugar Star Sweet Treats is a family affair

Johnson attributes much of her success to the tight-knit, supportive south Phoenix community of which her family has been part for three generations.

“We don’t have anybody to help us put an investment towards our business,” Johnson said. “If I did, I could have been further along taking these six years to get one machine. The support from south Phoenix has been huge. They are just really excited for me.”

The excitement is measurable. Johnson’s vending machine has been in the Kroc Center only since Friday, July 21, and within the first few days, she already had to restock her machine twice.

Zidan Gutierrez, 13, bought a traditional chocolate chip cookie from Johnson’s machine on opening day.

“I like how soft it was,” Gutierrez said. “The chocolate tasted good.”

For aspiring small business owners, Johnson believes that consistency in product and consistently good customer service are key. And family is another secret ingredient.

Johnson says support from her husband, Shamone, who helps her deliver her desserts to events, has been crucial.  “I’m here to support her in any way that I can,” he said. “I just want to be there for her in every way.”

“I like helping my mom because she does a lot,” her daughter Rhyan said. “She is very good at self-discipline. Before she worked (only) nights, she would work, pick us up from school, she would get home (and) maybe chill a little bit, but then she would start baking until it was like 10 o’clock. That’s a lot of dedication or work to put in. And it’s something that inspires me. It makes me want to work harder.”

What cookies can you buy from Sugar Star Sweet Treats vending machine?

Despite the ability to store hundreds of cookies, Johnson never fills her vending machine to capacity because she never wants customers to encounter a stale confection.

Each cookie is luscious, soft and at least half an inch thick. The cookies have high walls and are sunken in the middle, but are not under-baked. Johnson bakes the cookies in a muffin tin to produce the cuplike effect, creating perfectly round cookies that can also function as bowls for scoops of ice cream.

Johnson currently offers nine varieties, with gluten-free and vegan options on the way. Each one is a riff on the classic chocolate chip cookie. Her best seller is the chipless chocolate chip cookie, also known as the brown sugar cookie. It uses the same dough as her regular chocolate chip cookies, but without the chips. The cookie was inspired by some of her customers who loved her cookies, but told her they wished they were less chock full of chocolate.

Other fan favorites include white chocolate Oreo cookies, made with white chocolate chips and Oreo pieces.

Snappy ginger to hibiscus: Why a former top Phoenix restaurant owner now makes artisan sodas

Why the future of Sugar Star Sweets doesn't include a brick and mortar

As for the future of Sugar Star Sweet Treats, Johnson says she will likely stick with the vending machine model.

“I think that this is just the way to go,” Johnson said. “(There) is less overhead. Once you pay these off, it’s just revenue instead of having to constantly pay rent on a brick-and-mortar and everything that comes into it, all the payroll and everything. I like the fact that I can put the cookies in here and I can go and I can work on other things. I don’t have to make all the cookies and then sit in the shop all day.”

Johnson hopes to expand her business by adding more cookie machines throughout the Valley — in other community centers, sports arenas and Phoenix Sky Harbor airport. She wants to grow the business to a point where she can focus on it full time, make enough money to pay for healthcare for her family and not have to do all the baking herself. She also hopes to one day leave the business to her daughters, who are interested in managing it.

It's a family business she's building one cookie, and one pink vending machine, at a time.

Where to try Sugar Star Sweet Treats

The Sugar Star Sweet Treats cookie vending machine is located at the Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Center in south Phoenix. Cookies are $4 each.

Details: (Inside the Kroc Center) 1375 E. Broadway Road, Phoenix, 85040. sugarstarsweettreats.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: How Sugar Star Sweet Treats is changing the bakery business in Phoenix