For 25 years, Makeda’s Homemade Butter Cookies, founded in Memphis, Tennessee, has built its reputation on a simple promise: scratch-made cookies, baked fresh with 100% pure butter, delivered with consistency and care.
Founded in 1999, Makeda’s was named in honor of the Hills’ niece, Makeda, who died from leukemia at the age of six. Today, the bakery offers more than 15 cookie flavors — led by its signature butter cookie — along with classic desserts like banana pudding, sweet potato pie, and lemon icebox pie made with butter cookie crusts.
Earlier this year, that promise reached its largest audience yet with the opening of Makeda’s third location in the Atlanta, Georgia metro area. The Sandy Springs store, located about 15 miles north of downtown Atlanta, marks a milestone for owners Pam and Maurice Hill — and reflects a journey defined by persistence and a long-term partnership with the Entrepreneurship Team at Communities Unlimited (CU).
A Decade-Long Partnership
CU has worked alongside Makeda’s since 2015, supporting the Memphis-based bakery through nearly every stage of its evolution. Over that decade, the business has grown from a single neighborhood bakery into a multi-location operation, roughly quadrupling annual revenue along the way…