Life

Cinnabon Just Dropped Merchandise & It's Actually Kind Of Beautiful

Dec. 4, 2018

I don’t know about you, but I’ve found myself wondering something curious and a little bit weird lately: When did Cinnabon get cool? It’s been a fixture of shopping malls, airports, and roadside service stops for decades—but recently, it’s somehow become a lot more hip than it hitherto has been. Case in point: The new line of Cinnabon merch that just launched in the Cinnabon online swag shop is magnificent. Full of delightful puns and sayings and available in a soothing array of teal, white, pale pink, and navy shades, it’s… honestly the kind of stuff I wish I had more of in my wardrobe.

I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, but I covet a Cinnabon t-shirt.

My, how the times do change.

Then again, maybe it's not that odd that those of us in my generational bracket would feel a certain kinship with the band; it's almost as old as I am, so we kind of grew up together, metaphorically speaking. Founder Rich Komen opened the very first Cinnabon location opened in SeaTac Mall, about 20 miles south of Seattle, Wash., on Dec. 4, 1985, according to Seattle Met’s in-depth history of the brand from 2017. Initially managed by Komen’s son, Greg, it sold only one item: The gigantic, pillow-y soft cinnamon rolls yielded by the recipe developed by Jerilyn Brusseau. And although the company has had a few ups and downs over the years, there are now more than 1,400 franchised Cinnabon bakeries worldwide.

(Many of those bakeries are in malls and airports; because most people view cinnamon rolls as a “sometimes-treat,” these locations tend to do the best business, even if they don’t have as many repeat customers. As Greg Komen put it to Seattle Met, “The best thing this company ever did is not be insecure about what we are” — basically, we're here, we're enormous cinnamon rolls, and that's fine. I appreciate that sentiment immensely)

Anyway, Cinnabon opened its online store in 2008, according to a market analysis of the company published on LinkedIn’s SlideShare platform. Over the past decade, various products and items have been available for purchase online — but in 2018, Cinnabon has really pulled out all the stops. First, there was the Cinnabon gifting platform, which will ship regular-sized Bons, Mini Bons, and BonBites to anyone in the United States; now, we’ve got the new swag that just hit the merch shop.

Priced between $12 and $40, the items can be shipped anywhere in the world. The collection is small — just 12 items, several of which are duplicates of other items in different colors — but each and every piece on it is a winner. Seriously, folks — major props to the design team for these items. They’re fantastic.

Here are some highlights: