Greenville waffle delivery service to expand to Raleigh

Two North Carolina men brought the possibility of waffles to the steps of every East Carolina University student’s doors with a click of a button.

Justin Cox and Hunter Harrison are the founders of Smash Waffles, a delivery service that brings made-from-scratch waffles straight to your door by ordering online or over the phone.

“Justin and I originally met to discuss an app idea that we were considering developing,” said Harrison. “By the end of the conversation we were going back and forth about food service ideas. We've often joked that restaurants are the most risky businesses to start because of the startup capital requirements and their high failure rate.”

Despite the initial reservations, Smash Waffles was launched in December of last year and has seen a huge spike in interest since its opening.

“We've had dozens of franchise inquiries since launching in mid December, most of which are in much larger markets than Greenville,” said Harrison. “Expanding to Raleigh was a natural way for us to see what it takes to launch Smash in a larger market so that we can adequately prepare for future growth.”

The inquiries resulted in the opening of a Raleigh branch and proved to be the best possible next step forward for Cox and Harrison.

“Response to Smash Waffles in both markets has been overwhelming,” Harrison said. “We've done our best to staff up to meet the the demand. It's taken us a few weeks, but we are finally sufficiently staffed in Greenville. We're hoping to have Raleigh fully staffed by the end of February.”

While there is not a physical location for the business in Greenville, their delivery truck, fondly nicknamed “the Smash Shack,” comes in handy.

“The delivery model in Greenville works really well because we can get to almost any location in less than 20 minutes,” said Harrison. “We're still working out some of the kinks in Raleigh, but we feel really good with where things are heading.”

Cox and Harrison’s regular menu is filled with five classic waffles, as well as a “Waffle of the Week” that changes every few days.

“The Quilted Pig is definitely one of the fan favorites,” said Harrison. “Our 'Waffle of the Week' has also been super popular, mostly because it's only available for a few days before we lock it up in our waffle vault.”

When Smash Waffles first launched last year, neither of the self-proclaimed waffle fanatics had imagined how popular their creation could become.

“We kind of like the odds being stacked up against us, so we decided to take on the challenge,” said Harrison. “What better way than to create something nobody else is doing: waffles. And...voilà, Smash Waffles was born.”

Since Cox and Harrison play large roles in both the Greenville and Raleigh branches of Smash Waffles, everyday brings a new schedule.

“For Justin and I, we may be in Greenville making deliveries and interacting with our customers, or it may involve us purchasing building materials and overseeing the construction of our food truck concept, The Smash Shack,” Harrison said. “We may be in the Smash Lab coming up with new Waffle of the Week flavors, or we may be spending a couple of days in Raleigh helping that location get to all the names on their VIP waiting list.”

Cox and Harrison get especially busy during the holidays. Valentine’s Day proved to be a landmark day for the young business.

“Valentine's Day was bonkers. Sadly, we had so many incredible ideas for how we wanted to market Valentine's Day gift orders, #WafflesAndChill, but we weren't able to pursue any of them because our V-Day orders almost completely booked up over a week in advance,” said Harrison. “The love notes in each order were so fascinating to read, by the way. Tons of waffle puns...or should we say, a ‘waffle’ lot of waffle puns.”

Ordering Smash Waffles can be done on its website, smashwaffles.com, or by texting “WAFFLES” to 252-231-3323.