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GourmEt nEWS FEbruArY 2018 www.gourmetnews.com Retailer News rEtAilEr nEWS 1 0 Chicago Snack Icon Remains a Family Affair as it Heads into Third Generation bY robin mAthEr A romantic gesture of support from a hus- band to his wife has left a surprising legacy for a Chicago family now entering its third generation as a nationally known snacks re- tailer. When Herbert Kenney, a real estate sales- man, bought the building at 3830 N. Clark Street, in 1980, the neighborhood was not yet gentrified, as it is today. Still, Kenney thought, the 10,000-square foot building would make a good studio for his wife, Es- telle, an artist and sculptor. "We bought that building so I could do my art work," says Estelle. "I was an ex- hibiting artist — paintings, dreamy stuff and sculpture. I needed space then but now my whole life is Nuts on Clark." Indeed, Estelle, now the President of Nuts on Clark, can be credited with the company name. "My father came up with the vision to go into the nut business," says Robert Kenney, Estelle's son and Director of Sales and Manager of the company's stores. "He said to Mom one morning at 6 a.m., 'think of a name.' Nuts on Clark was what she came up with." In its earliest days, Nuts on Clark offered three items: roasted salted cashews, roasted salted blanched peanuts and roasted salted pecans. Today, however, the company sells not only roasted nuts but also confectionery and its signature popcorns, with stores at both O'Hare International and Midway In- ternational Airports, Union Station, con- cession stands at all the major Chicago sports venues — and a large mail-order business, too. "We started mail order almost immedi- ately in the first year," says Robert. "We were sending our stuff all over the country — before computers — filling out UPS ad- dress forms by hand." Today, mail order around the holidays is "probably 60 percent of our business," he says, with the airport locations a big con- tributor, as visitors to Chicago order to send gifts to family and friends. A 'Pioneering Expedition' "We opened with three items," Robert says. "Roasted salted cashews, roasted salted blanched peanuts and roasted salted pecans." The whole family went into the business, "We were giving samples out, going to shows. The product line expanded, which meant we needed more space," Robert re- calls. "We took over 5,000 more square feet in the building that my father had leased to someone else, and our line of products ex- panded to around 500 products. "We diversified into different products, went into coffees, candles, and just kept evolving," he says. N u t s r e m a i n the com- p a n y ' s mainstay, he says, " B u t about 20 years ago, we came with the idea — m y g r a n d - m o t h e r made popcorn and caramel corn, and we wanted to add this to the mix, because we thought the demand would definitely be there. Today, we have caramel corn, cheese corn, many different kinds." Nuts on Clark is nationally known for its 50-50 mix of caramel corn and cheese corn. It seems to have everything that snackers love: Sweet, savory and salty at the same time, it's a bit of a guilty pleasure. Estelle Kenney is especially proud of the company's many certifications. "We are a woman-owned company and a minority- owned company, and are certified as a Women's Business Enterprise, Disadvan- taged Business Enterprise, Airport Conces- sion Business Enterprise," she says. Building the Business It hasn't been easy for the Kenneys to build the business, says Carla Kenney Phillips, Herbert and Estelle's daughter and the com- pany's Secretary. "We opened at Union station about 21 years ago," she says. "From there, we were trying to get into the airports — started with O'Hare, but it took about 16 years to get into the airports." "You could say we are kind of persistent," says Robert. "We had to do requests-for- proposals over and over." But it was Midway International Airport that admitted Nuts on Clark as concession- aires first, he says. "We got into Midway 17 years ago," he says. "When they began the redevelopment of Midway, we were in Phase 2. But nothing works that fast. One of the officers from the airport called us and said there was a loca- tion and finally, after five or six years, they accepted us, and we started build-out on the store there." The airport Nuts on Clark store was ex- tremely successful, Robert says. "They liked it so much that they said, 'We have these spaces at O'Hare.' We waited for years. Now at O'Hare, we have four loca- tions — our newest is in terminal 5, the in- ternational terminal." In sports-crazed Chicago, Nuts on Clark is also the official popcorn of the world-famous Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field," Robert says. "We are also popping for the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field, and, at the United Center, for the Chicago Bulls and the Chicago Blackhawks. We started doing branded popcorn for the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field — that started about 12 years ago, when they put that top on the stadium," he says. The company makes popcorn colored in team colors for each team, and produces signa- ture flavors for the teams as well. All of this expansion off-site meant that Nuts on Clark had to do some expansion of its own. "We expanded our location on Clark Street and now have two warehouses, where non-food items like paper goods and containers are stored," says Carla. "Clark Street is where we ship almost everything out from." "We have a big turnover and have trucks coming in every day," adds Robert. "We now have our nuts roasted to our specifi- cations by someone else, but every store makes its own popcorn." Nuts on Clark sells about five truckloads of popcorn seed — that's 40 thousand pounds of popcorn seed per truck – "popcorn is still our main seller," says Robert, adding that about 25 percent of the company's sales is in nuts, and 40 percent is chocolate confections. The Next Generation Zachary, Robert's 23-year-old son, is learning the business so he can eventually take over, Robert says. "We now employ about 47 people," he says, "di- vided between counter sales, stock and production, most part-time." Nuts on Clark sells its own and team-branded popcorns on the website www.tastes ofchicago.com, which is a cooperative venture of a num- ber of iconic Chicago restau- rants and brands, including Lou Malnati's Pizza, Portillo's, Eli's Cheese- cake Company and Lettuce Entertain You, a restaurant company. "We're considering wholesaling to other retailers in the future," Robert says, "But we haven't made any decisions on that yet." GN

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