A South Charlotte Crumbl Cookies shop is under fire after a video surfaced that appears to show employees doing hair in a back-of-house area while cookies were being prepared nearby. The company says it temporarily shut the store, tossed all the dough on site and brought in a professional cleaning crew once the clip hit social media, and at least one customer says the episode cost the location his business.
Customer footage shows hair treatment near cookie prep
William Baker shot the video Saturday night at the South Kings Drive shop. The footage appears to capture one worker perched on a ladder while another applies oil to her scalp, with a third employee calmly frosting cookies in the same area, according to WCCB Charlotte. Baker told the station he confronted the employees and felt brushed off, so he took his craving to another Crumbl location for a fresh batch of chocolate-chip cookies instead. “I ain’t going back there,” he told WCCB.
Crumbl's response and cleanup
In a statement to local media, Crumbl called the behavior “unacceptable” and said it closed the South Kings Drive store, discarded all dough on the premises, hired a professional cleaning crew and “took appropriate action with the employees involved,” according to WSOC. The station reports that after the cleanup, the location had reopened by Tuesday.
Sanitation experts weigh in
Rhonda Stewart, a Johnson & Wales University professor who teaches sanitation and safety, told WSOC that hair dye is a toxic chemical that can cause cross-contamination, and that scenes like the one in the video erode customer trust. Basic food-safety rules, things like hair restraints, gloves and frequent handwashing, exist precisely to keep personal grooming products away from food, she noted.
State follow-up expected
The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services told WCCB Charlotte its first inspection of the South Kings Drive shop was in 2025 and that officials did not know about the video until it was sent to them. The agency said it plans a follow-up inspection, and depending on what inspectors find, the store could face cited violations or be ordered to take corrective action.
