Add hours and days
The café closes at 2 pm and stays closed on weekends. Saturday breakfast, early dinners or seasonal hours would add revenue without changing the concept.
Business for sale · Downtown Sioux Falls
The Cookie Jar EateryA scratch bakery and lunch café that downtown Sioux Falls has been coming back to since 1972. Turnkey, weekday hours, steps from the river walk.
$150,000 furniture, fixtures, equipment and inventory included
- Asking price
- $150,000 Cash, SBA or conventional financing
- Included
- Turnkey Furniture, fixtures, equipment and inventory
- Rent
- $3,500/mo Current term through Dec 2027
- Lease runway
- 2031 Two 2-year options at the same rent
- Established
- 1972 Current owners for 24 years
- Hours
- Weekdays Closes at 2 pm. No nights or weekends
The business
Fifty-plus years of cookies, bread and lunch downtown
The Cookie Jar has been part of downtown Sioux Falls for more than 50 years. The current owners have run it for 24 of them, baking from scratch every day with family bread recipes, custom cakes and decorated cookies, a daily lunch menu, and a full catering menu.
The customer base is loyal and it goes back generations. People know the name, and that kind of recognition takes a new concept years and a lot of money to build.
In 2023 the café moved into a newer space on the ground floor of an office building at 101 S. Reid Street, on the east side of downtown along the Big Sioux River. It came with booths, a fireplace lounge, a bakery case and order counter, a full scratch kitchen, and a covered front patio. The building's riverside terrace and conference rooms are shared with the other tenants.
The schedule is a big part of the appeal. The café is open Monday 9 to 2 and Tuesday through Friday 7:30 to 2. The owner works about 31 hours a week. The owners are retiring.
The offering
- Asking price$150,000
- Furniture, fixtures & equipmentIncluded
- InventoryIncluded
- Real estateLeased, not included
- Rent$3,500 / month
- FinancingCash, SBA or conventional
- Reason for sellingRetirement
Financials
Available on request
Financial records go to qualified buyers after they sign a nondisclosure agreement. Reach out to Stephanie and she'll send the NDA, then the package below.
- Three years of tax returnsAfter NDA
- Current-year P&LAfter NDA
- Current leaseAfter NDA
- Equipment listAfter NDA
The lease
$3,500 a month, locked through 2031
The current term runs through the end of 2027. After that the tenant has two 2-year renewal options at the same rent, so a buyer can keep the space at today's rate for six more years.
Current termNow – Dec 2027$3,500 / month
Option 12028 – 20292 years · same rate
Option 22030 – 20312 years · same rate
Assigning the lease to a buyer, or a new lease, is subject to the landlord's approval. The lease is part of the package qualified buyers receive.
On the river
Lunch on the Big Sioux
The building sits on the east side of downtown with the river walk right outside. The café has its own covered patio by the front door, and the building's shared terrace sits right on the river, a few blocks from Phillips Avenue and the new Riverline District.
Room to grow
Where a new owner can take it
Grow catering
The office building upstairs has conference and training rooms, and downtown is full of offices, event planners and organizations that order lunch. More active outreach to them is the clearest way to grow this side of the business.
Take cake orders online
Custom cake, cupcake and cookie orders still come in by phone or email to the owner. A simple online order form would save time and catch more orders.
Delivery and online ordering
Expanding delivery and online ordering would reach customers outside the immediate blocks around the building.
Photos
Take a look inside
Video
Walk through the café
The full walkthrough: dining room, counter, kitchen and patio.
How to buy it
From first look to keys
- Reach out to StephanieCall, email or use the form below. She'll send the nondisclosure agreement.
- Sign the NDAYou'll get three years of tax returns, the current P&L, the lease and the equipment list.
- Tour after hoursShowings are set up with the owners so staff and customers aren't disrupted.
- Make an offerCash, or SBA or conventional financing. No seller financing.
Please don't contact the café, its staff or the landlord directly. All questions go through Stephanie.
