HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — In honor of Black History Month, 8News highlighted Cookie Chris, a Black-owned business with two locations in Virginia that sells a variety of gourmet cookies.

On Friday, Feb. 21, 8News Anchors Autumn Childress and Madison Moore spoke with Christopher Knight, the owner of Cookie Chris, with two locations in the Short Pump area of Henrico County and Williamsburg.

Knight is a Richmond native and a full-time student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, where he is currently in his sophomore year and studying philosophy.

“It’s kind of difficult, but I think everything you do in life has a little bit of challenges to it,” Knight said when asked how he balanced school and running his business. “I handle all of the social media from school and then my parents help out in the locations, and I also have staff that do some things for me as well.”

Knight said he began his business during the COVID pandemic after his mother asked him to do something productive instead of playing games, so he began to bake.

“When I was younger I used to bake a lot with my grandmother, so I started doing that again,” Knight said. “Family friends started tasting them. They liked them. They asked if they could buy some.”

From then on, Knight said he started selling them at school, as well as on Facebook and Instagram. Knight said he got a store after saving up enough money from his sales.

The Cookie Chris location in Henrico County can be found at 11571 W. Broad St.

Knight said people can also purchase cookies online through Cookie Chris’ website .