Business: Kilwins
Address: 36 W. Jefferson Ave., Naperville
Phone/website: 331-472-4236; www.kilwins.com
General manager: Ira Hall, 57, of Batavia
Years in business: 7
What does your business do? “Have fun. It’s all about making people happy. When you serve ice cream, fudge, chocolate and candy, it’s hard to not be in a good mood,” Hall said.
What’s the background? “Kilwins was founded by Don and Katy Kilwin in 1947 in Petoskey, Michigan. There are 162 (locations) right now. We’re all up and down the East Coast. Big concentration in Florida. West to Colorado, southwest is Texas. Started in Petoskey and still based in Petoskey. … In the early ’80s, the Kilwin family sold to Don McCarty. He started franchising the stores and introduced ice cream. Recently, Don has sold half the company to a larger corporation with the focus on opening more franchises.”
How long have you worked for Kilwins? “Twelve years. … I’m the general manager of this shop and St. Charles.”
What do you like about your job? “Every day is a new experience. I love talking to people. I have a great fondness and admiration for our product. I know what goes into it. I know the quality. We make a lot of the products here.”
What makes the ingredients special? “A lot of people will be surprised, a company of our size, we make all of our own chocolate. It’s all certified fair trade chocolate as well.”
What is certified fair trade chocolate? “We have to go through the process of being certified. We are in partnership with growers of cocoa beans that grow in the same areas around the globe as coffee to provide them a stable and above-market price for their product to ensure the safety and proliferation of their crops.
“We pay them a little more to help them educate about chocolate, keep their product good and (to) keep it coming. … South America, Central America, Africa, anywhere you find coffee growing. … The chocolate market is as volatile as any other market. Globally, there was a huge (price) increase recently. We’re hoping that stabilizes.”
What do you charge for fudge? “It’s by weight, $25.95 per pound. We sell it by roughly half-pound slices. It’s always on sale. If you buy two slices of fudge, you get a third for free. It’s quite popular. … We give a discount, 10% for people who work downtown. … We offer samples of fudge and ice cream, as many as you’d like to taste.”
What’s the story on the huge table in the window? “It’s a marble slab, 1,000 pounds. That’s where we make our fudge, our brittles, our corns.”
Why do you need that? “It’s solid. It helps cool the fudge. We pour the fudge at 237 degrees on the table. We cool it down to about 110. The marble helps cool it and keep the temperature even across the surface of the fudge.”
What does a customer say? “It’s soft. I come in and bug him, ‘Did you just make it? Was it done today?’ … My son will eat the whole (slab of fudge) in two days,” Judy McCarthy, of Naperville, said.
What about the ice cream? “Don McCarty brought it in in the 1980s. It became so popular. We offer 28 flavors here. … Our ice cream is 14% butter fat content, super premium. It’s creamier, richer. We control the whole process. It comes in here at 20 below zero on our own delivery trucks.”
What’s your favorite ice cream? “Cappuccino chocolate chip.”
And fudge? “One of my favorites is the cookies and cream, vanilla fudge with two pounds of crushed up Oreos. It’s pretty good. … Chocolate, sea salt caramel and peanut butter are the top sellers. There are 65 to 70 types of fudge we can make.”
Is making fudge difficult? “There’s a lot involved. There’s a science and an art. You have to have the correct temperature. You can’t undercook or overcook. Humidity and barometric pressure affect it. … Our fudge chef, Austin Crompton, is amazing.”
When are you busiest? “Mid-day, then a dip during dinner. After 7 o’clock can be chaos in the summer.”
Any favorite stories? “When we’re slamming busy. It’s a lot of fun. … If someone drops their cone, we replace it. No charge. It’s a Kilwins philosophy.”
Do you snack often? “When I make a lot of products, I find that I don’t because I smell it all day. There are worse jobs.”
What’s your advice for someone starting a business? “Do your homework. Don’t get overwhelmed by the excitement. … Plan for surprises. Anything can happen tomorrow. COVID showed that to all of us.”
Steve Metsch is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun. If you know of a business you’d like to see profiled in Down to Business, contact him at metschmsfl@yahoo.com.
