LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) — One of Acadiana‘s younger entrepreneurs is celebrating her storefront grand opening this weekend, after perfecting her cookie recipe during the pandemic.

“I’m literally taking it day by day because it all escalated and it happened without me realizing,” said Caroline Merryman. Her life has been a whirlwind since graduating high school in 2020 and become a business owner at the age of 19. Caroline Cookie’s, her very own company, will turn a year old in September.

It all happened so quickly it’s hard for her to recall where it began. “I was asking my friend if we remember how it even started, but I made an Instagram, and then one person asked me to sell them. I hadn’t even thought about selling them. Instagram was just to take pictures of my cookies and then from there it kind of escalated,” said Merryman.

She started off with deliveries and then moved on to pick up orders at her house. She said the game changed when she sold at her first farmers’ market.

“The pop-ups and the farmers market were so much fun because I got to see my customers. Especially with COVID, I would leave the cookies at my door so I didn’t get to see people excited,” Merryman said. “But at farmers market and events I got to see everyone, it was so exciting.”

Her cookies have created lines in real life and likes on social media. Caroline hopes her unique way of baking will continue to draw customers in.

She explains, “The shape of them, everyone always says they look like muffins or they ask if they’re even cookies. They are, they’re just shaped a little funny. I like thick gooey cookies and that’s what I wanted everyone else to enjoy.”

Her new storefront located at 1921 Kaliste Saloom Rd Suite 124 in Lafayette has brown paper bags covering the windows.

Caroline says she designed her store to be an extension of her brand, and she wants to keep it a secret until the grand opening. The window coverings won’t be removed until five minutes before the big reveal Saturday, August 14 at 3 p.m.