Business: Kona Ice of Central Naperville
Address: Naperville
Phone/website: 630-448-8851; www.kona-ice.com
Owners: Taylor Mazurek, 27, and Logan Mazurek, 27, both of Naperville
Years in business: 3
What does your business do? “We hand them the cups of shaved ice. Customers choose which flavors they want. … We also offer smoothies,” Logan said.
So you are like an ice cream truck? “We do a little bit of that. … We have the (steel drum) music playing. The lights are on,” Taylor said. “But most of our bookings are private events or public events like a big block party. We come out and sell kona. We do birthday parties, graduation parties, corporate, schools, youth sports, everything.”
How does this business work? “We’re completely mobile. Three trucks. And we have a kiosk. In June, it was parked at Sam’s Club in Montgomery,” she said.
What is each truck worth? “$160,000,” Logan said.
Is this your full-time job? “It’s mostly Taylor’s thing. I have a full-time job. I’m a software engineer at Lockheed Martin,” Logan said.
“In college, I worked for the Kona Ice franchise in Lafayette, Indiana, near Purdue University. That’s where I grew up, my summer job,” Taylor said. “I worked for that franchise a long time and realized this is super cool. … After college, we moved to Florida. I was working remotely for Kona.”
“One day in Florida we were randomly looking at ZIP codes — I grew up in Naperville — and saw this territory was open,” Logan said.
What’s your territory? “Naperville, Bolingbrook, a little bit of Aurora, two streets in Plainfield,” Taylor said.
When do you work? “From March till the end of October. It helps that Logan has a full-time job. … We run this truck all winter because it has smoothies for corporate events,” Taylor said.
More Top Picks Best Small Room Air Conditioners
You don’t take summer vacations? “We don’t. If we travel, it’s in the winter when it’s our off-season,” Taylor said.
What’s new? “We have dye-free concentrate we mix with any flavor. That’s a big draw. The other (draws) are vegan and gluten free and free of the top nine allergens. It’s a treat everyone can eat,” Taylor said.
What do you like about this business? “It’s always different and everyone is always happy to see you,” Logan said.
“It’s super fun,” Taylor said. “Touching on Logan’s point, it’s something new every single day. You’re meeting new people. We’ve had really cool opportunities we wouldn’t have gotten without Kona.”
What’s the key? “Speed of service. We can do 350 servings in one hour,” Logan said.
What about prices? “It starts at $4 for a small, medium is $5, large is $6 and we have a cowabunga cup that’s $7,” Taylor said. “The perk about the $6 and $7 cups, they’re plastic and so they’re reusable. If a customer brings back their cup, we will re-fill it for $3.”
What challenges do you face? “I don’t feel we have any challenges or competition,” Logan said.
Of the 10 flavors, which is most popular? “Blue Raspberry doubles everything else,” Taylor said.
Where do you get the ice? “We have an ice maker at the shop. We fill these (bins) with ice before the truck goes out,” Logan said.
How many employees do you have? “We have 11 right now,” Taylor said. “We have our family working for us too. Logan’s parents. They like it.”
Any favorite stories? “Before we were picking up the chest freezer at the Best Buy warehouse, I measured,” Logan said. “But because of the box, it was a half-inch too big to fit on our truck. I went to rent a truck. The guy at the warehouse stayed late for us. We gave him and all the guys who stayed later some free Kona. They loved it.”
“He booked us for his daughter’s birthday and he’s had us out every single year since then,” Taylor said. “He’s a great client. Very loyal.”
What should people know? “We do a Chill Out Day every Tax Day. On April 15 we do free Kona, even if it’s snowing outside. This year we did it at the Bolingbrook Village Hall and the Naperville Public Library on 95th Street,” Taylor said.
What does a customer say? “I’ve never had it before,” said Belvidere resident Tracy Taylor, transportation coordinator for Naperville School District 203. “I’ll try Blue Raspberry and Strawberry’d Treasure. … It’s nice. It’s cold. It’s great.”
What’s your advice for someone starting a business? “Being in business is freeing,” Taylor said. “Working for yourself is fun. … Take the leap of faith even though it can be scary.”
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 [email protected].