Indiana football boosts local businesses in Kentuckiana during national championship run

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Businesses in the Louisville area are benefiting from Indiana football's run to the national championship game.

Some are making Hoosier-themed sweet treats, like Lauren Thomas ,who runs an at-home bakery called Sourdough To-Go. Her main items are sourdough, sourdough starter and specialty cinnamon rolls.

Thomas has friends who went to IU, so she decided to challenge herself by hand-painting IU logos on sourdough.

"It was a TikTok actually that they sent to me, and they were begging me to make it immediately," Thomas said. "Orders are still coming in. I had tried to cut them off, but they're still coming in."

Across the river in New Albany, we go from bread and cinnamon rolls to gourmet cookies. The Whimsical Cookie at The Underground Station has IU-themed cookies named The Fernando Strawberry Swirl, The Cignatty, The Hoosier Daddy and The Bison.

Amanda McMonigle owns the shop and, as a diehard Indiana fan who is making the trip to Miami for the game, she had to jump on the opportunity.

"It's great for a small business to have something like this pop up on their radar and be able to take advantage of that," McMonigle said.

The cookie store is also running a promotion. If you wear IU gear Saturday or Monday, you can get a free cookie.

The Hoosier energy continues at The Mercantile in New Albany.

"Hoosier fans are loyal, and we've always carried some Indiana items, especially with basketball," owner Courtney Byrne said. "So it's just added an extra layer of that."

The store has a little bit of everything including candles that "smell like a Hoosier win."

"People have been burning that at the game, so now it's kind of a superstition," Byrne said. "They have to keep their candle and keep that lit for all the games."

After riding the success all season, local businesses are now looking ahead to the national championship game as Indiana takes on the Miami Hurricanes on Monday night.

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