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OREM — Multiple people claiming to be former employees of Crumbl Cookies made enraged statements online and through news tips on Saturday. They said that there had been at least 100 layoffs.
The Utah-based cookie company was called the "fastest-growing dessert chain in the United States " by the New York Times in April of 2023. Despite multiple child labor law violations that were reported in lieu of a federal investigation in 2022, the company continued to expand and opened its first locations in Canada.
Additionally, Crumbl Cookies sought multiple legal battles with their competitors, Crave Cookies and Dirty Dough. Crumbl sued them both in May of 2022, and later dismissed the suit against Crave, leaving the fight with Dirty Dough still open. Dirty Dough then filed a countersuit against Crumbl, stating the legal proceedings caused them economic losses.
The company, founded in 2017 by cousins Sawyer Hemsley and Jason McGowan, was said to have 918 stores around the U.S. as of Sept. 2023, before supposed layoffs were made. Many of the layoffs reported were at the flagship store in Orem, Utah. It's unclear whether the location will remain open.
A Reddit user who claims to be a former employee posted stating the company had "blind-sided" them. They also made statements about the company's co-founder and his recent Instagram activity.
"Meanwhile, Sawyer posting his new mansion on Instagram all while this is going on," the post said.
KSL TV received an anonymous news tip confirming they had seen Sawyer's post on his Instagram story. The tip said he later removed the content from his story after he was called out online.
"We all saw Sawyer Hensley on his Instagram page recording himself picking out decor for his new mansion while we lost our jobs," the tip said.
KSL was unable to confirm the story post accusations but did confirm a vlog Sawyer posted a week before the alleged layoffs were made. The vlog shows construction progress on a large new home, captioned with his comment:
"I may or may not have told the design team to include a @crumblcookies inspired moment within the house. 👀"
Crumbl issued a statement to KSL saying the company is going through "structural changes" due to the market demands.
"At Crumbl, we are continually evaluating our operational needs to ensure that we remain responsive to the ever-changing market demands. We are currently going through structural changes with our training program. We have realigned some of our teams and streamlined the operations of our flagship store, located in Orem. Previously, this store functioned as both a retail outlet and a training facility. Moving forward, we will focus on its primary retail function to optimize the customer experience.
"We have also dissolved and merged certain teams at Crumbl headquarters to implement our current strategic direction. We value the contributions of all our team members and are committed to supporting those affected during the transition.
"Despite strong economic headwinds, system wide sales are strong, and our international footprint is growing. We will continue to hire new employees at Crumbl based on our new strategic direction. These changes will position us for continued growth and sustained success, allowing us to better serve our customers and support our franchise partners."
