Opening its second location in Baton Rouge just a short drive away from Bocage Village, locally owned cookie shop CounterspaceBR is seeking to become more than a supplier of sweet treats.

After spending time in Washington D.C., CounterspaceBR owner Sarah Joy Hays saw an opportunity to use her new location to bring her community together.

“One thing about D.C. that stood out to me that I hope Baton Rouge and other cities in Louisiana emulate is a strong sense of neighborhood,” Hays says. “There’s so much about Baton Rouge where you hop in your car and drive across town, and I would love for us as a community to really invest in the area right around us by making things more walkable and bikeable and really getting to know [our] neighbors.”

Though it has already been open for a few weeks, the new location’s grand opening is set for June 17, a date that holds special meaning for Hays as both her son’s birthday and the four-year anniversary of her entry into brick-and-mortar business.

The menu for the Bocage location hasn’t changed much from its sister location on Perkins Road, offering the same cookies, brownies, cakes, sandwiches on freshly baked bread and unicorn bars.

But the new location across the street from Towne Center also offers a collection of cookbooks curated by Hays and easy access to baking supplies previously not available in Baton Rouge, as well as exclusive ingredients like a vanilla brand found nowhere else in the Red Stick, Mojo Coffee from New Orleans and jams made fresh in New Orleans.

For more, be sure to check out the full story from our sister magazine, 225. And see what a difference Hays has made in Baton Rouge by revisiting her Women with a Cause 2020 profile.