Nonprofit teen bakery's East Side expansion clears regulatory step after decade-long wait
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Overview
Updated 1 hour agoCookie Cart, the Minneapolis nonprofit that gives teens their first jobs baking cookies, cleared a key regulatory step for its long-planned Saint Paul location. A Minnesota food handler retail license for 946 Payne Ave appeared on the state's public registry on September 1, 2026.
The license allows the bakery to operate, though it doesn't confirm the doors are open. The expansion has been in the works since 2015, when Cookie Cart bought the former market building on Payne Avenue with plans to open in 2017.
Why it matters
If it opens, the Saint Paul bakery brings paid job training to East Side teens, expanding a program that has served hundreds since 1988.
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Timeline
1988 September 2026
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Food handler license on record
Latest RegulatoryMinnesota food handler retail license appears for 946 Payne Ave.
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Johnson High School pilot launches
ProgramJob readiness pilot begins at Saint Paul's Johnson High School.
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Cookie Cart buys Payne Avenue building
AcquisitionOrganization purchases 946 Payne Ave, plans 2017 opening.
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Minneapolis bakery expanded
ExpansionRenovation doubles teen capacity to 200.
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Cookie Cart serving 100 teens
MilestoneThe bakery reaches 100 teens served annually.
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Cookie Cart founded
FoundingSister Jean Thuerauf opens the nonprofit bakery in North Minneapolis.
Historical Context
2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.
Cookie Cart founding (1988)
Sister Jean Thuerauf began baking cookies with neighborhood teens in her North Minneapolis kitchen while helping them with homework. The informal effort became a formal bakery in 1988.
The bakery opened and began employing teens, growing to serve 100 by 2010.
Cookie Cart became a model for nonprofit teen employment, expanding to 200 teens after a 2014 renovation.
The Saint Paul location replicates the model that started in a kitchen: paid work plus life-skills training for teens.
Minneapolis renovation and expansion (2014)
Cookie Cart renovated and expanded its North Minneapolis bakery, doubling its teen capacity from 100 to 200.
The expanded bakery served double the number of young people.
The successful expansion set the template for the Saint Paul project, though that effort has taken far longer.
Shows Cookie Cart has scaled successfully before, but the Saint Paul project's 11-year timeline suggests the second expansion faced more hurdles.
