There’s a new queen in town — The Pie Queen of Bowling Green, that is. The pie shop, located in the historic downtown area, opened its doors to customers on Sept. 14.

The shop is owned and jointly run by WKU alumni Brie and Brad Golliher. The couple is also known for starting Boyce General Store in Alvaton.

“With the success of [Boyce General Store] and the public’s demand for [Brie’s] baked items, we decided it was a good idea to give her a space that would allow her to bake to her heart’s content,” Brad Golliher said.

The rustic Southern feel of the downtown pie shop equals the comfort of being in Grandma’s kitchen.

Brie Golliher does most of the baking and marketing while Brad Golliher primarily works at the front of the store interacting with customers.

“He is the people person,” Brie Golliher said. “He’s my better half in that he can talk to customers and take care of things and take orders. And then I do all the cooking part.”

The “Pie Queen” credits her parents with promoting her interest in the profitable hobby.

“I’ve been baking since I was a child with my mom and my dad,” Brie Golliher said. “My mom … she’s an amazing cook. She doesn’t like to bake as much … so I just always took over the baking side of things.”

The shop features both savory and sweet pies as well as other desserts like no-bake cookie sandwiches. The sandwiches are filled in the center with peanut butter from local vendor Gone Nuts.

“I’m just like a true fat kid at heart,” Brie Golliher admitted. “I love all things sweet.”

The shop tries to use as many local ingredients as possible in its pies. For example, it uses locally-grown vegetables from Sunny Point Gardens in Brownsville.

Each month, The Pie Queen of Bowling Green will feaXture a particular pie as that month’s specialty. Cookie dough pie was this month’s feature, and pie fans can expect caramel apple and pecan pumpkin flavors in the upcoming autumn months.

Kayla Bertelkamp, a Mt. Washington sophomore and cashier aQt the shop, enjoys her workplace environment.

“Brie and Brad — they’re such great people,” Bertelkamp said. “It feels more like a home than an actual corporate job.”

Even in the midst of handling two businesses, Brie Golliher said her goal each day is the same: bake like her grandmother.

“My favorite compliment is to be told that [my food] reminds them of their grandmother,” she said.

The Pie Queen of Bowling Green is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., but the pies often sell out early.