Business: The Spice House
Address: 15 W. Jefferson Ave. Naperville
Phone/website: 630-566-2286, www.thespicehouse.com
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District Manager: Celeste Southard, 56, of Chicago
Years in business: Opened November 2022
What does your business do? “We are a purveyor of spices and herbs. … We are super approachable to all kinds of cooking confidence, somebody who’s just starting their journey in cooking to a very experienced Michelin chef. Whatever type of cuisine you’re looking at doing,” Southard said.
What’s the background? “We were founded in 1957 by Bill and Ruth Penzey in Wisconsin. … In 2018, the family pretty much retired and we had two investors who were super excited about what we were and what we stood for. Dave Grossman and Daniel Yates are the new owners.”
Where are your other locations? “The Old Town neighborhood in Chicago, Evanston and the Milwaukee Public Market.”
What sets The Spice House apart? “We have our own blends that have been started by previous employees (and) from the founders that have become our top sellers. … Our VP of product, Alex Wilkens, has been with the company for a long time. He started in stores, has worked with the past owners. Alex and his team members are always looking for different ideas, different blends, different trends of herbs we can introduce to our customer base.”
What are some of those? “Our bestseller is Back of the Yards. It’s a grilling blend. It was designed basically like a butcher’s rub but it goes on everything. It’s beautiful on meats, great on vegetables. … Gateway to the North is another. It’s more of a sweet and savory (blend). It can be used on meats, vegetables. Lake Shore Drive is another.”
Do you sell online? “Online is a large piece of our business. … We gained so much recognition during the pandemic when people were at home and experimenting, wanting to cook.”
Tell us more about how the pandemic affected business. “It introduced (us to) people who maybe weren’t as focused on quality and experimental (cooking). … Anything that had to do with cooking had a surge when people had nothing else better to do. … When you cook for yourself, you get more focused on the quality and how it tastes.
“Prior to 2021, stores they would do their own grinding and blending and packaging of product. We do not anymore. We decided after what everybody went through with the pandemic that it made more sense — efficiency-wise, safety-wise and consistency-wise — to bring it under one roof. Now we have our production and fulfillment center in Elk Grove Village. … It allows our teams in the stores more time to interact. It’s been great.
“We started The Spice Bar about a year and a half ago. Once a month, we curate four of our spices and customers are able to taste sample them. Our spice merchants walk them through the history of it, what you can pair it with, how to cook it, how to use it. … It’s really fun.”
What’s new? “Devilish Dill Egg Seasoning. It’s in a new category for us called Shared Table Collaboration with Lisa Steele. We learned about her and her focus on chickens and eggs. We now produce this new blend and it’s been doing fantastic in the stores.”
What about pricing? “Typically, $7.99 to $12.99 (per package or bottle). We don’t over produce so we keep the freshness.”
How do you find all these exotic spices? “Our founding family loved to travel and brought them here. … We work with the same farmers all over the world for years and years.”
Why downtown Naperville? “Naperville is just a beautiful community. It’s got wonderful history and great other retailers and vendors. … It’s a perfect partnership.”
What do you like best? “It’s such a joy to watch customers come in and be so excited and want to learn and share what they made and who they made it for.”
Any negatives? “There are literally no negatives. … I wish we could stay open 24 hours.”
When are you busy? Summer, when people are grilling, having picnics. … Then we go into November and December, holiday cooking, bringing families together.”
What misconceptions do people have? “That there’s not something for everyone. There is. … It can be intimidating, but we have diverse teams that can work with any level of customer.”
What’s your advice for someone starting a business? “Believe in it and have a passion.”
If you know of a business you’d like to see to profiled in Down to Business, contact Steve Metsch at [email protected].
Steve Metsch is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
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