Photos courtesy of the Ocean City Sure Guide

Thank you to Kristen Riley and the staff at The Sure Guide OCEAN CITY

By KRISTEN RILEY -- When you walk into Crazy Susan's Cookie Company at 1345 West Ave., you will most likely be greeted by Crazy Susan herself. After a pleasant welcome, Susan Adair will get right down to business, but not the business of selling cookies - the business of getting to know you. "I love having a business where someone can come in, sit down, relax and talk," said Susan Adair. "I love my customers and I think my customers love me. I remember a lot of stuff about people. It's very important to me that I know my customers' names and at least one thing about them. "Adair is, by all definitions, a "people person." She's pleasant and genuine, and at Crazy Susan's she makes sure her customers feel right at home.

And, as the storefront suggests, she's even a little bit crazy - that fun-loving, life-living, good kind of crazy.And to top it all off, there are the cookies. From chocolate chip to sugar, the crispy edges and moist centers will keep most anyone wanting more. Perhaps that accounts for Adair's loyal fan base."A lot of times once they come in, they come back," said Adair. "It's repeat, repeat, referral, referral."Although Adair has been in business for five years, her Ocean City location - and first official storefront - opened July 21, 2006. "The recipe was given to me by a very old friend with a promise I would never give it out," Adair said. "I would bring cookies to parties. They were always the dessert that went first."The idea to begin an actual cookie business started to take shape in those early years of birthday parties and barbecues, and when the baking became too big for her West Berlin kitchen, Adair knew it was time to take the next step. And although it was time and her family and cookie-recipe friend, Jill Snell, encouraged her, she held back. Excuses Adair made for herself kept her working out of her home oven.It took a tragedy a few years later to open Adair's eyes.Adair has an incredibly close-knit family. At Crazy Susan's, there are anywhere between 25 and 30 members that volunteer to help the store get off its feet. This includes her business partners, Barry, her husband of 25 years, and Linda Brand, her sister, as well as her daughter, Lauren, and son, Barry. There are nearly 100 more family members that could be called up to help.So when Adair's cousin, Joy Iuliano, died nearly two years ago from ovarian cancer, it was not only the loss of a close family member and friend, but also a wake-up call."Only after I lost my cousin Joy did I say to myself, 'I need to do what I enjoy in my life,'" said Adair. "And I never looked back."Adair also thinks Iuliano had a hand in finding the West Avenue location."I ran into the guy that owned the building. He was a friend of Joy's," said Adair. "I just happened to meet him."After a few cups of coffee and, of course, a plate of cookies, Adair couldn't help but accept the offer to rent the commercial property. And since then, Crazy Susan's has been "off and running.""Our Board of Health Certificate came in Thursday, and by Saturday (July 21) we had 14 family members in here working," Adair said of the store's grand opening over Night in Venice weekend. "It was hard to keep up with the demand!"It's no wonder. With crumbly, moist outsides and a soft, chewy center, it's hard to go wrong with a cookie from Crazy Susan's. And there's a type to fit most everyone's taste. From the traditional Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Raisin, Adair has adapted her friend's secret recipe to include such flavors as Rocky Road (complete with browned marshmallows on top), Peanut Butter, Almond Joy (with toasted coconut), and many more varieties.When her website (www.crazysusanscookies.com) describes the cookies as "not too chewy and not too crisp," it's right on the money.Crazy Susan's has expanded to also include coffee, macaroons (plain and chocolate covered) and a variety of "outrageous brownies." Any cookie can also be dipped in chocolate - high quality Belgian chocolate, milk or white!
"We take a lot of pride in our quality," said Adair. "We bake fresh every day."Adair also has a hand in every batch being made and coming in and out of the oven. If she's not stirring the spoon, she's at least overseeing what her family is adding to the bowl."I oversee all the baking. I do most of the baking," Adair said. "I don't want to lose that homemade taste. The quality is very important to me."Keeping the high quality will continue into the future, and Adair would also like to see her business. They already have a large corporate business, with 3,000 pounds of cookies shipped all over the United States last Christmas. They have interviewed with QVC for a potential time slot, too. And since family is the most important, Adair would like to expand for them."I would love to have a business big enough that the family could run. Where, if anyone needs a job, they can have one," said Adair. "We are working together and playing together. The fun is immeasurable."With the growing demand of Adair's cookies in Ocean City, it probably gets a little crazy sometimes, too. But a little crazy is okay, especially at Crazy Susan's Cookie Company. It's that good kind of crazy.Crazy Susan's Cookie Company is located at 1345 West Ave., Ocean City. It is currently opened on weekends from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Cookies can be ordered at any time by visiting www.crazysusanscookies.com, or by calling (856) 767-1019 or (609) 314-0429. E-mail Crazy Susan's at crazysusanscookiecompany@comcast.net.