Business: Cookie Dough Creations
Address: 22 W. Chicago Ave., Naperville
Phone/website: 630-369-4833; www.cookiedoughcreations.com
Owners: Nikki Schultz, 52, and Jeff Schultz, 54, both of Naperville
Years in business: 31; they purchased it in 2017
What does your business do? “We sell raw cookie dough, ice cream and fresh-baked cookies. And specialty items. And we have a game room,” Nikki said.
How many flavors do you have? “We have eight different flavors of cookie dough. Sixteen flavors of ice cream. Four flavors of cookies,” Nikki said.
Why did you buy this business? “To keep something that was a small business in town, to keep it in Naperville because everything was going to national chains,” Nikki said.
What’s the history? “The gentleman (Jim Bewersdorf) who came up with this recipe 31 years ago left his job to do something he thought would be a special sweet treat. … There wasn’t raw cookie dough being sold then. He was pretty much the first. … It was crazy to have eight different flavors of raw cookie dough in 1994. (When) he was retiring, we bought it,” Nikki said.
What were you doing before? “I worked in mortgage banking for 20-plus years. … It’s a big switch,” Jeff said.
“I was working in the corporate world, marketing. I left that two or three years ago,” Nikki said.
How’s it going? “It’s going well, love it, but COVID-19 pretty much killed us. … It’s come back from COVID, but it never really came back to pre-COVID (levels),” Nikki said.
“We were shut down for two days but then we had to quickly get into pickup and delivery, which is tough for ice cream,” Jeff said.
“During those couple of years, two or three other national ice cream chains came into town. Jeni’s. Ben & Jerry’s. But we’re still kicking,” Nikki said.
Why are you still kicking? “Because we are consistent. It’s been a recipe that hasn’t changed in 30 years. People know it,” Nikki said.
How long has the game room been here? “We bought the business in February 2017 and this was open by November. This was all production. … One big room with walk-in freezers and storage and ovens. That’s all now in the basement,” Jeff said.
Why did you add the game room? “We brought it in for revenue. Something to do. Something different,” Jeff said. “Believe it or not, 50 people fit in here no problem. … Pretty much all of (the games) are old-school.”
“We rent this room out for parties. The price is $300 for two hours,” Nikki said.
What do you like about this business? “It’s just taking pride in something that’s yours. And the massive improvements we made here. When we got it, it was in bad shape. … Every ceiling tile, every light, every floorboard, everything was yellow from all the grease from cooking over 20 years,” Jeff said.
“It’s the pride in owning your own business,” Nikki said.
Any negatives? “(Working) seven days a week. With Nikki here, now it’s so much easier. Before that, seven days a week, 12 hours a day. … It’s the same with any small business. The buck stops with you. … Someone calls in sick or doesn’t show up. A freezer goes down. You’re on vacation. It doesn’t matter. You’ve got to fix it. … You can’t really know what it is until you do it,” Jeff said.
What challenges do you face? “There are a lot of dessert options down here, well over a dozen. … We stay competitive,” Jeff said.
“I don’t think about it. Our pricing is better than anyone else and we’re open more hours,” Nikki said.
What are your hours? “12 to 11 Sunday through Thursday, 12 to 12 Friday and Saturday. … We’re by the bars. We are busy late at night. A lot of people are here at 11 or 11:30 at night. You’d be surprised,” Nikki said.
Any future plans? “Stay alive. Pay the bills,” Nikki said. “We’re getting a whole new website. It should be launching pretty soon.”
How many employees do you have? “Twenty for the summer,” Jeff said.
Do you have children? “One daughter, Sami, 22. One son, Tommy, 19. They both work here,” Nikki said.
What do customers say? “It’s really good. A unique idea, cookie dough with ice cream,” Kip Love, 69, of Boise, Idaho, said.
“It has a good neighborhood feel,” his wife Pam Love, 67, said.
What’s your advice for someone starting a business? “Don’t plan on going on vacation anytime soon. It was three years before I did,” Jeff said.
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.