Six years ago, a couple came into Windy City Sweets to purchase items for their Halloween-themed wedding. Although the original date ended up being postponed because of the pandemic, the wedding eventually took place with custom items from Windy City Sweets.
“They actually came in 2020, we probably met them in May or June, something like that,” John Manchester, Artisan Chocolatier and co-owner of Windy City Sweets said. “We mapped everything out and kept in touch and the wedding venue said they could only have half the people.”
“Halloween was on a Saturday during Covid; they would not allow enough people at a venue, so it was the next year on Oct. 30,” Manchester said.
The following year, when the wedding was held, Windy City Sweets created all kinds of one-of-a-kind candies that fit the wedding theme - including chocolate-covered gummy rats.
Today, the family that had to wait a year for the wedding they wanted turns to Windy City Sweets for all the important occasions in their family.
Most recently, they celebrated their daughter’s birthday.
“For their daughter, we did Cheshire Cat type stuff,” Manchester said. “We did chocolate bark and we molded it so it flowed into each other. They keep coming back.
“At Christmastime, they send me pictures of the kids and I send them back photos of my kids. “You just have a great customer that turns into a friend.”
Windy City Sweets has been in business for more than four decades. Owners John Manchester and Jill Manchester bought the store in 2011,making this the Manchester’s 15 year anniversary.
Over that decade and a half, Windy City Sweets has grown and evolved, adding John’s great grandmother’s fifth generation Manchester's Olde English Toffee that Manchester handcrafts in small batches. Windy City Sweets also is world renowned for importing their licorice from Europe, particularly Denmark, and creating annual sweets that fit a holiday theme.
Their Licorice Bar is a crowd favorite and two years ago, Windy City Sweets “Licorice Collection” made it into the official gift swag that went to the Oscar nominee’s. After, sales and online orders of their licorice treats came from everywhere, to the point that John had to order a five foot pallet to replenish all the licorice that was sold.
As far as holidays go, sales definitely follow a trend.
“Christmas is the largest season; it’s like four weeks long,” Manchester said. “That’s definitely our biggest.”
For Easter, Manchester said there are three big days of shopping.
But holidays like Father’s Day give opportunities for specialty chocolates. This year, that includes full-sized baseballs. The treats are the size of the actual sports equipment, and are hollow inside.
“We also have a full-size football and a full-sized basketball,” Manchester said.
The store also carries foil-wrapped chocolates and chocolate mustaches on a stick.
“We do a lot of fudge for Father’s Day,” Manchester said. “Also our Face on a Cookie has been very popular with Mother’s Day and a lot of birth celebrations.”
Windy City Sweets founded its Face on a Cookie last year. They developed a shortbread cookie on which they can print anything from logos to photographs. Local folks can even stop in, take a selfie, have it printed edibly on a cookie and surprise Dad on his special day.
Manchester says mothers and grandmothers have been coming in requesting photos printed on cookies for baby showers.
The cookies have also been popular for graduation and other summer celebrations.
Parents and siblings also can customize their graduation and for a special touch, such as post-graduation cookie gifts featuring student’s school logos and or the logos of future schools or schools from which students are graduating.
As we move further into summer, the candy shop has been developing specialty candy for the United States 250th celebration.
They will sell red white and blue fudge and specialty anniversary gummies that Manchester is not yet announcing. They will also have red white and blue gummies and chocolate boxes with red, white and blue ribbons to celebrate America.
To special order anything - from school colors to Face on a Cookie, visit windycitysweets.com.
Sign up for free local newsletters and alerts for the
Lakeview, IL Patch
Patch.com is the nationwide leader in hyperlocal news.
Visit Patch.com to find your town today.