Hello Robin Cookies and Cone & Steiner are marking their mutual tenth anniversary with a community celebration on Saturday, December 16th, from 12:00 – 3:00 pm. The Cone & Steiner and Hello Robin Capitol Hill location will be welcoming the community to a fun-filled afternoon featuring face painting, free apple cider, sugar cookie decorating, and selfies with Santa Claus. Both businesses will also be open for regular business during the celebration, offering specialty, local, and staple goods at Cone & Steiner and the full menu at Hello Robin.

The leadership of these two women-owned businesses looks forward to the opportunity to give back to the community that they call home. In addition to providing free, family-friendly activities for the community to enjoy, Cone & Steiner and Hello Robin will encourage visitors at their anniversary celebration to donate to two non-profits close to the founders’ hearts: Plymouth Housing and the Alzheimer’s Association. Founded in 1980 by members of Seattle’s Plymouth Congregational Church, Plymouth Housing is dedicated to combating the homelessness epidemic by developing and operating housing in Downtown Seattle. The Alzheimer’s Association has been working to combat the debilitating disease and other forms of dementia since 1979. It is the hope of the Cone & Steiner and Hello Robin leadership team that the community consider donating to these worthy causes while attending the free celebration.

The connections between Dani Cone, founder of Cone & Steiner, and Robin Wehl Martin, founder of Hello Robin run deep, and their passion for Seattle started early. During their shared childhood growing up on Mercer Island, Robin would babysit Dani, beginning a long friendship between the two. These days, Robin and Dani are neighbors in their professional lives, with their shops sharing a wall and an internal window at the Capitol Hill location. When the two began to plan their tenth-anniversary celebrations, there was never a question as to whether they would co-sponsor a joint celebration to honor their relationship with Seattle—and each other.

Martin has spent her ten years building the business that bears her name into a powerhouse of the Seattle dessert scene. Hello Robin owes its beginnings to the friendship between Martin and another major figure of the Seattle dessert world, ice cream maven Molly Moon Neitzel. Neitzel gave Martin the nudge she needed to transform her baking hobby into a full-time career, and she’s been a Capitol Hill institution ever since. Hello Robin cookies are consistently rated as some of the finest in the nation, having been featured in publications like Cosmopolitan, but Martin’s focus remains local. She and her family live within walking distance of the Capitol Hill location, and she strives to serve the Seattle community first and foremost. “I truly love the area, and I want to stay here…” said Martin. “My husband and I really are our customers.”

This community-focused philosophy would have made Martin and Dani Cone natural allies and fantastic neighbors, even if they didn’t have a shared history. Like Martin, Cone is animated by an ethos of community service. It’s a trait inherited from her great-grandfather, who co-founded the original Seattle Cone & Steiner general store back in 1915. When Dani opened up Cone & Steiner’s modern incarnation nearly 100 years later, she hoped to provide a modern take on the classic general store. Cone is honored to be providing her community with reliable, high-quality products in the same way that her great-grandfather provided for the Seattle of his day.

A decade after they first opened the doors, Cone & Steiner modern general stores have become pillars of their neighborhoods. Cone & Steiner’s wide selection of unique local products, PNW-focused craft beers, curated wines, housemade specialties, sweet treats, and lots of snacks has proven to be a hit in both Capitol Hill and the second location in Pioneer Square. Cone is passionate about highlighting standout local brands, like Hello Robin, and hopes to continue serving the community for many years to come.

The celebration will take place at the joint Cone & Steiner—Hello Robin location at 532 and 522 19th Avenue East, respectively on Saturday, December 16th. This is a family-friendly event, with children encouraged to attend with their parents. Festivities begin at noon and are projected to last until roughly 3:00 pm.