Kilwin's Owners Look to Sell Business

Kilwin's Owners Look to Sell Business

By Amber Lester Kennedy Wednesday, April 06, 2011

Kilwin's owner Troy Daily and girlfriend Whitney Brown, pictured in 2009.

The owners of Kilwin’s Ice Cream Parlor in High Street are ready to move on, but hope to leave their candy shop in capable hands.

Co-owners Troy Daily and girlfriend Whitney Brown moved to Williamsburg in the fall of 2009 to open a branch of the Michigan-based chain candy store. Now that he can check “entrepreneur” off his ambitious to-do list, Daily, 24, is hoping to return to his home state of Michigan.

“Whitney and I are young and we’re interested in moving back to Michigan,” he said Tuesday. “Owning a business consumes a lot of our time and we haven’t had much time to get back and explore.”

He admits, however, he has also become addicted to the process of opening a business. “When you’re young and ambitious and an entrepreneur, you’re always trying to think of what’s next to do,” he said. “We want to start that struggle all over again.”

He’s proud of their work to establish the unfamiliar brand in Williamsburg. “We moved here and nobody knew what a Kilwin’s is,” he said. “Now it seems like if you don’t know, you’ve been hiding under a rock.”

Daily has had a lifelong association with Kilwin’s, having worked every job in the parlor since he was eight years old. His parents, Brian and Mary, own a Kilwin’s in his hometown of Traverse City, Michigan, where he got his start handing out fudge samples to passersby on the street.

He plans to remain in the area until the franchise sells, and then wants to help train the new owners, who he hopes will love it as much as he has. “I hope to open three to four more Kilwin’s stores before I am 30 years young,” he said.

Comments

0 #10 Guest 2011-04-08 08:59

I am not sure why there is such mourning for a business that has parachuted into town. Yet another national chain that sucks money OUT of town rather than circulating it here. Come on friends and neighbors, support LOCAL businesses. That means locally owned and locally operated, not town-to-town jumpers that are subsidized by the corporate office.

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+5 #9 Guest 2011-04-08 06:26

Have been in three or four times (each time I was the only patron in there). Product was delicious but pricey. Would love to see High Street make a go of things but seems like there must be more to this story. At 24 how many successful businesses has this entrepreneur established? Not buying that the fact it remains open after its first year means it's "established" and by what measure "successful" (compared to what?). In any event - the taste and look of the place is great. Best of luck --

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+3 #8 Guest 2011-04-06 21:21

May God Bless You Troy and Whitney. Sorry to hear that you are selling; I hope that the Georgia Preach that I love so much, will remain the same. Wishing you the best in your next Establishment. Thanks for bringing such great taste to Williamsburg.

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+1 #7 Guest 2011-04-06 14:42

Troy Daily, Owner of Kilwin's here. Just wanting to clarify some items in the article.

We are not checking off "Entrepreneur" off of any list, we are simply trying to sell our established successful business so that we may start another one. We enjoy establishing businesses and starting them from the ground up.

High Street, Kilwin's, and Williamsburg in general have been a great place to start growing the Kilwin's name throughout the region. High Street is a great place to open a business and has only been a positive experience for us. Our Kilwin's store is the first of MANY here in the state of Virginia.

We are interested in moving back to Michigan, eventually. We have a lot of plans before this will happen. Kilwin's would like to open up other stores in the surrounding areas. Hampton, Virginia Beach, and Charlottesville are just to name a few. Charlottesville is already in the works.

Feel free to contact me directly if you have any further questions, concerns, or opinions. Williamsburg

Kilwins.com. Thank you! :lol:

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+3 #6 Guest 2011-04-06 14:29

Oh no! Say it isn't so! Troy and Whitney are the reasons this business is unique and is doing well. We will miss them and wish them every success in their future entrepreneurial endeavors.

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+5 #5 Guest 2011-04-06 12:58

High Street is starting to make the Marquis look like a big success!

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+1 #4 Guest 2011-04-06 10:09

Sorry...let's define and describe a true entrepreneur.

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-3 #3 Guest 2011-04-06 08:18

(peeks out from rock) I seen the name, but I had no idea what this business sold.

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+9 #2 Guest 2011-04-06 08:04

Troy and Whitney - we wish you the best in all you do! Good luck with everything! Williamsburg will miss you.

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+9 #1 Guest 2011-04-06 07:04

This couple will be missed. They did a grand job and we wish them well. (Although we wish they would stay).

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