Windy City Sweets is Chicago's Candy Store

When Jill Manchester was a young child, her parents had the same talk with her as many parents have with their children. In order to keep their daughter safe, they wanted to instill in her the rule to not get into a car with strangers. Her parents ran a number of scenarios before her -- what if the stranger offered you a Coke? A Bike? Money? Each time, the answer was an adamant no… but then they asked what would happen if the stranger offered her candy and Jill would break into a small smile and say “I have to be honest – I’d say yes.”

Maybe it was inevitable that Jill Manchester and her husband John Manchester would end up owning a candy store.

“Candy evokes in me this passion and joy,” Jill Manchester explained. “I am a candy enthusiast and really do love eating candy. It’s not just the taste but it’s the fun I have while I am eating it.”

Jill Manchester said her joy becomes amplified when she gets to share that passion for candy with others.

“I do feel like a kid when I eat candy -- carefree, light-hearted, pure joy,” she said. “But what I really enjoy is sharing candy with others and sharing that same feeling of joy with them.”
“And now that we own a candy store, we get to do that every day. That’s pretty awesome.”

Although it may have seemed like fate that the Manchester’s would own a candy store, when they first went to see Windy City Sweets at 3308 Broadway in Chicago, Jill Manchester shared they had agreed before they went that they were not going to buy the store.

John Manchester is an engineer by training and an entrepreneur by heart. He has decades of experience building McDonald’s, Cosi Restaurants and J Crew retail stores. John Manchester’s experience with McDonald’s taught him about food service and retail operations and since he built the first McDonald’s Playplace expansion, he also already understood how important it is to create a fun customer experience.

In 2011, John Manchester had decided to buy a business and was evaluating primarily construction companies and somehow, by fate, a candy store came into the picture. They both decided it made more sense to purchase a company closer to John Machester’s background, but Jill Manchester couldn’t resist and asked her husband to ‘please just go and see the candy store.’

When they arrived at the store, they asked to try the best-selling Windy City Sweets product, which is the handmade S’mores candies. After one bite, Jill Manchester looked over at John Manchester and he knew at that moment, they had just bought a candy store.

“I know chocolate,” Jill Manchester explained. “I’ve worked in confections for almost 30 years.”

“I have never tasted something like that S’more.”

She went into detail about the experience.

“I could taste it was hand-made, I could taste it was a special chocolate blend, I could taste the quality of the product,” she raved. “It tasted unbelievable.”

Windy City Sweets’ S’mores remain one of Jill’s favorite candies in the store to this day.

“There is nothing comparable to our S’mores in the marketplace,” she said proudly.

Jill Manchester and John Manchester purchased Windy City Sweets in 2011 from Jerry Sherwood, who opened the store in 1983. Sherwood, a baker by trade and a talented chocolatier, still works at the store and is now part of the Manchester’s staff.

Both Jill Manchester’s love of candy and John Manchester’s love of the experience have combined for an incomparable customer experience inside the store.

“Candy is fun,” John Manchester said enthusiastically. “When our customers walk in, they are in one of two camps -- they either are in a great mood or they want to get in a great mood."

“Either way, our job is to help them and make their experience in our store a way to enhance their mood.”

In addition to the fun atmosphere, the store seemingly transports customers to candy stores of a different era.

“When you open the door to Windy City Sweets you are opening a door to a different time when things were simpler,” Jill Manchester said. “It’s a nostalgic place where the staff is outgoing and friendly, ready to help you find what you are looking for or share with you the new creation that has been made this week.”

John Manchester agreed.

“It’s just a fantastic taste and experience,” he said. “Our customers always leave with a smile on their face and in a good mood.”

“Candy is supposed to be fun and we make sure our customer experience in the store is always a positive one.”

The store carries about 1,500 items and while John said about 80 percent of the product is constant, 20 percent rotates. Of that 20 percent, the store is constantly going back to the kitchen.

“We create new things every week,” John said. “We get some suggestions from customers, some from evaluating emerging flavor trends, some from just getting creative in the kitchens.”

One such suggestion from a customer was the store’s chocolate-covered bacon, which they now carry in both dark chocolate and milk chocolate. It’s the perfect blend of sweet and salty.

When the Manchester’s purchased Windy City Sweet, one of the first products they added was house-made English Toffee.

“We make our own English Toffee from a family recipe,” John Manchester explained in more detail. “That’s something we started last year and customers really like it.”

In addition to the house-made products, John Manchester is very aware of what his customers want to see more of and tries to find the best products to fit that need.

One example of this is the store’s extensive licorice bar assortment. John was surprised how many people kept coming in talking about licorice.

He saw the popularity and began researching and adding more varieties to the bar to meet the customers’ needs and exceed their expectations.

“He kept saying, ‘I can’t believe how many people keep coming in talking about licorice,” Jill Manchester explained about her husband. “This came from his customers; taking the time to talk with people to understand them.”

Currently WCS is housed in one location, but the couple are looking to expand.

“We are just investigating possibilities,” John said. ““We just want to own Chicago and be Chicago’s candy store.”

For more information on Windy City Sweets, visit the Web site, http://www.windycitysweets.com <> or call the store at 773-477-6100. Windy City Sweets is located at 3308 Broadway in Chicago.