Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Kulus.
Chris, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Before buying this ice cream shop in November 2018, it was called “Cow Interrupted”. I had frequented this shop for several years prior with my younger kids as it was a cute little shop in the historical downtown area of Farmington, and supporting local small businesses was important.
The owners were wonderful people which I had gotten to know during those years, and I was shocked like everyone else when they announced that October 31st, 2018 would be the last day of the shop as they were moving to Germany.
At that time, my kids were essentially 13 & 15, and I decided to contact the owners and ask if they’d be willing to sell me the shop versus just close it down for good. One, I loved the idea of being able to directly show my kids what it’s like to be an entrepreneur, two I had been looking for something that would allow me to be more engaged with the local community and give back, and three I felt it was good business to own as they had a very loyal following on social media.
Met with the owners, and they stated they were thrilled with the idea of selling the shop to us, and a deal was quickly made. The reigns were handed over on November 1, 2018, and the remodel started right away as the shop was closed for the winter.
The plan was to take it from the cute cow-themed feel to a more modern feel with an 80’s retro arcade in the back room with games such as Ms. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Star Wars. These games are all originals from the 80s which I have restored over the years after finding them in barns, warehouses, and storage units. The Grand Opening for the new Chill Ice Cream studio was on April 5, 2019, and to no surprise the community support was overwhelming!
Owning Chill has been everything I expected and a lot more! One, the loyal social media following has been the key to our success. I think we started with just over 1,200 Facebook followers, and currently have over 4,400. I pay for no advertising, everything is done with social media. We can make a post about a new flavor, and within 30 minutes people are coming through the door asking to try it. We have the best followers.
Two, teaching my kids about entrepreneurship has been amazing. My daughter Sophia, who was 15 at the time, really set the tone about how we as a business would treat our customers. When a customer walks through the door, even if the employee is busy serving someone else, they always make an effort to cheerfully acknowledge the customer with a smile and say they will be right with them. That practice has become our norm and every employee does it naturally to this day.
Every review we get talks about how polite and great the staff is – that is a direct reflection on my daughter starting four years ago. Plus to be able to work side-by-side with your daughter, and see her work ethic, her customer service, and her problem-solving has been so fulfilling. A few years later, my son started working regularly once he turned 15. Add in my two nieces also working at Chill, and it’s so very cool to see the cousins working together. Laughing, supporting each other, and the banter. Hopefully making memories that they will talk about for a lifetime.
Three – community outreach. Been very blessed by this community every step of the way. Their support has been evident and so appreciated. Revenue grows every year. How they treat the young staff is simply amazing. I think there has maybe been one customer incident in 4 years where someone wasn’t happy, otherwise, everyone who comes in is happy, polite, respectful, and giving.
They leave great reviews. They frequently visit. They bring their visiting family members in to show them the local ice cream shop. They celebrate special occasions with us. I could not be more thankful. I have tried to reciprocate this by supporting the local sports teams and clubs. Free ice cream to all mothers and fathers on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.
I partner with the local police department for an annual “Chill with a Cop” evening where all kids get free ice cream and get to socialize with the police members. Very very blessed. But maybe our most recognized effort started during Covid. As Covid hit and schools closed down, I felt terrible for that graduating class as they were missing so many memories of their senior year.
A neighbor of mine had a son graduating that year and she was such an advocate to bring some normalcy to those seniors that year. She inspired me to find a way to honor that class and do something to hopefully bring a smile to young kids who were missing out. So I decided to create VIP wristbands that would get a graduating senior free ice cream every single day of the summer. I ended up giving away over 150 wristbands, and it was one of the coolest things we have ever done!
To see groups of friends coming in tougher, to have a place to hang out when everything else was closed. it brought some normalcy during a time when everything was confusing. I think we ended up giving away well over 1,000 free scoops of ice cream that summer to that graduating class. And as Covid lingered into the following year, we did the wristbands again. Now in our 4th year, it’s become a summer tradition for the graduating class to get one of the Chill VIP wristbands.
We’ve grown to give out over 185 wristbands each summer, and over 2,000 free scoops are usually consumed before they all head off to college or the next chapter in their life after high school. It honestly is very rewarding to get to know these graduates and see them hanging out making memories and enjoying their last summer before the next phase of their lives.
We offer 20 flavors of ice cream from Chocolate Shoppe out of Madison, WI. We pride ourselves in rotating our flavors frequently so people can try new flavors as well as keep things new and interesting. Also, we just launched Boba last week so we are very excited to be offering something to our customers.
My son and one niece are now seniors in high school. I’m not sure what the future holds after this year as the most rewarding aspect of owning Chill has been seeing my kids/nieces working together. After they graduate next summer, will I sell to another family and let them experience this great opportunity?
Will I give partial ownership to our longest-tenure employee named Sydney who is now going to college for entrepreneurship and let her take Chill to the next level? Not sure, but either way it has been one of the most fun and best decisions to buy this little shop and make so many wonderful memories.
We’ve been impressed with Chill Ice Cream Studio, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My background has mostly been in Corporate America. I spent 17 years out of college at USBank in Information Technology (IT). Most of those years were spent in leadership. After I turned 40, I felt pulled to go into the Small Business world as it felt more like me. Being able to have direct impacts on customers. Being able to have direct impacts on my community.
Being able to reward my team as much as I felt they deserved without limitations from an HR department. I started as a Business Coach, which led me to become the President of the Farmington Business Association. That group and position led me to meet many owners in Farmington, including the owners of Cow Interrupted. And because of our professional interactions, they felt very comfortable and excited to pass me the baton to take over their beloved shop which they had owned for many years.
I am most proud brand-wise that we always have an amazing team. Even when we hire new staff when others go off to college, we are blessed to have great new hires. I also love that I think everyone has a great memory when they come to visit us. As Steve Jobs said, “If you want to make everyone happy, don’t be a leader, sell ice cream.”
I also think our brand to our staff is that we fully support their schooling and extra activities. We want them to be teenagers and enjoy this season of their life to the fullest. They get to choose their schedule. They never have to worry about a work conflict with a family vacation, sporting event, band, or anything. They work as much or as little as they want to keep their school/social/work balanced.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Certainly, my daughter Sophia set the tone right away as to what our identity and brand would be regarding customer service. She also set the bar for work ethic and commitment.
Contact Info:
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/farmingtonchill
