Wikipedia:Tina Rexing

Tina Rexing is a Filipino-American entrepreneur and baker based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her primary venture from 2015 through 2018 was a combination bakery and café called "T-Rex Cookie", whose claim to fame was the size of its cookies, some of which weighed in at five pounds (around 2.25 kilograms). T-Rex Cookie operates out of an industrial park space in Eagan and offers a cookie catering service for offices or special events.

Early career
Rexing graduated from St. Olaf College with a degree in economics, then went on to spend twenty years at various large Minnesota-based businesses including Thomson Reuters, Northwest Airlines, and Target.

T-Rex Cookies
In January 2015, Rexing left her corporate job and incorporated T-Rex Cookies. At the time, it was based out of her home kitchen, but soon moved to an incubator in south Minneapolis. Her cookies won several local awards, which brought media attention and additional business. In 2016, Rexing sought loans and invested some of her own savings to purchase equipment and rent space for a small café space recently vacated by another dessert business, Cupcake.

In January 2017, T-Rex Cookie hosted a luncheon after the Women's March, donating a portion of the proceeds to the local organizers of the march. Rexing and T-Rex Cookie continued to capitalize on the political climate, soon offering a sandwich called "The Donald": One slice of bologna and American cheese on white bread for $10 (or $5 for immigrants).

The bakery's 5-pound, 6,800 calorie cookies were showcased on The Today Show, and offered as refreshments in luxury suites for Minnesota Wild and Minnesota Vikings games.

Closing
In December 2018, T-Rex Cookie vacated their University Avenue location, relocating to an industrial park in Eagan, and laying off several employees in the process. The Eagan location is primarily geared towards wholesale with limited availability for retail. This change was due to a proposed redevelopment of the site, which would become a 14-story residential building with retail space. Rexing intended to return to that retail space when it was available again, but when the redevelopment was delayed by a lawsuit, which has since been settled, Rexing decided to back out of her deal with the developers.

Later business
Since closing the brick and mortar location of T-Rex Cookie, Rexing has continued her wholesale operations from Eagan. She has also expanded to serve special events and businesses with a delivery truck.

In 2019, Rexing traveled to Los Angeles in order to pitch her business on Shark Tank. Despite encouraging words from Mark Cuban, Rexing's pitch did not generate any results. In early March 2020, she received word that the segment she filmed would not air.

In early 2020, Rexing opened another T-Rex shop at Ridgedale Center, but dwindling sales related to the COVID-19 pandemic led to a swift closure. Many of the clients of the wholesale business are also closed due to the pandemic, leaving T-Rex a small portion of the business it once had. During the pandemic, Rexing donated hundreds of cookies to the local school district to help feed children who relied on school lunches.