BOARDMAN, Ohio – The new owner of One Hot Cookie said she plans to put her own stamp on the Mahoning Valley brand, including by partnering with other local businesses, while retaining several of the store’s favorite treats.
Heather Huff of Boardman finalized her purchase of One Hot Cookie, which operates stores on U.S. Route 224 here and in Hermitage, Pa., from founders Bergen Giordani and Morgen Chretien, Giordani’s daughter, on Dec. 1. The mother-daughter entrepreneurs opened their first store in Youngstown in 2013.
The Army veteran had been running the company for about two years when, after last year’s Canfield Fair, Giordani asked Huff if she had any interest in acquiring the business.
“Because I had been managing One Hot Cookie, I wanted to go ahead and step into the ownership role,” she said. “I had a lot of ideas about how to make the business better with changes to the menu, adding coffee and partnering with other small businesses.”
In 2023, Giordani and partner Dr. Nino Rubino acquired Gorant Chocolatier. Since then, Gorant opened a new flagship store across from the Shops at Boardman Park, where the company now manufactures its products.
Since the purchase, both Giordani’s and Chretien’s roles have expanded with Gorant, Giordani said. She also operates Sweet Marketing and Management, which provides marketing services for Gorant as well as other small businesses and nonprofit agencies, and handles future expansion and development opportunities within the Gorant brand.
“My role at Gorant is focusing on expanding our product line, our retail stores and our production facility, and expanding the Gorant footprint as a whole, so I had already stepped away from day-to-day operations at One Hot Cookie,” Chretien said.
Having both started a business from the ground up and purchased a business, Giordani said having worked in the business “gave [Huff] an advantage as a potential owner,” and it was evident that she had the leadership capabilities to step up as One Hot Cookie’s new owner.
Chretien viewed the store manager taking over as “a natural step” as she and her mother were focused on growing Gorant and it presented a great opportunity. “That just seemed like the perfect fit for everyone,” she remarked.
“As we grew and Gorant grew, we just didn’t have the bandwidth to give One Hot Cookie the love it needed, and we’re excited to see where she takes it,” she said.
So far, things are going well, Huff said. Keeping One Hot Cookie’s signature cookies, she has added desserts including a gluten-free chocolate cake, red velvet cake, carrot cake, tiramisu, apple turnovers and cannolis. She also has added coffee products from Youngtown Coffee Co. and flavored popcorn from Buckeye Gourmet Popcorn.
Major upcoming changes will include the closing of the Hermitage store in April, followed by opening a new store in the Eastwood Mall Complex in May. One Hot Cookie opened a store in the mall complex’s Howland Commons in 2015, but it closed a few years later.
Foot traffic had declined in recent years at the Hermitage store, Huff said. The nearby Shenango Valley Mall, a onetime retail anchor for the community that had been shedding tenants, closed in 2024. A new town center anchored by a Target store is being constructed on the site now.
Huff said she is interested in potentially returning to Hermitage and also doesn’t rule out returning to Youngstown. She also is interested in opening stores in Florida, where she is from, and Wisconsin, and is exploring partnerships with local schools.
Gorant now has freestanding stores in Strongsville and New Castle, Pa., as well as a pop-up store in Columbiana, Giordani said. In addition, last year the Boardman flagship store added a dessert bar, which so far has exceeded expectations. The company also is preparing to launch its own chocolate vodka.
“It’s been great to see people and hear people talking about the Gorant brand in new ways and interacting with the brand in their day-to-day lives, and not just at Christmas, Easter and Valentine’s Day,” she said. “The whole purpose behind the bar was to kind of breathe some life into the brand and make it a part of your day-to-day lifestyle.”
The One Hot Cookie founders acknowledged that leaving was bittersweet. “We’re excited to see where she takes it,” Chretien said.
“We wouldn’t be here but for One Hot Cookie,” Giordani said. “Sometimes your kids grow up and go off to college and move across the country, and it doesn’t mean that you’re not proud of them or you don’t love them.”
Pictured at top: Heather Huff, the new owner of One Hot Cookie.