Never thinking she’d end up behind the counter, Brenda Ochiltree said one of the first places her future husband Lynn showed her when they met at a Founder’s Day celebration in 2000 was the historic Candy Kitchen.
Even though the couple married in July 2001, they didn’t get the opportunity to take ownership of the unique, historic business until 2015, when Gus and Thelma Nopoulos sold the business they started in June of 1910.
Today, Brenda and Lynn not only run the iconic Candy Kitchen, but various other businesses in the community including three Wilton Air B&B’s. But it’s the Candy Kitchen that earned Brenda accolades in August from the Iowa Restaurant Association, naming her among the “Top 40 Women to Watch in the Hospitality Industry.”
She admits not knowing much about running a soda fountain/restaurant/candy store when she got into the business, but the couple took the customer service skills they had in running the local funeral home, and implemented them from a different customer service aspect.
The Shellsburg native now puts in 50-plus hour weeks managing the business, from placing food and supply orders, to sweeping floors, merchandising, hiring, training, and even cleaning the couple’s three Air B&B’s, along with managing a small homemade candle business, Lor Len Candles, which you can also find at Candy Kitchen. On top of that, they're finding time to cheer on their WHS sophomore son, Christian, at football games.
“It’s not an easy business,” Brenda said of the seven-day-a-week restaurant, noting the place opens at 7 a.m. for the local coffee crowd and doesn’t close until 7 p.m., although closing hours will change to 5 p.m. Oct. 1 for the fall and winter.
She says customer service is always at the forefront of the business, something she instills into the 10 part-time employees she personally trains, setting expectations and even asking for “ways we can do things more efficient and better.”
Although the restaurant portion of the business has always been small, with mainly sandwiches made behind the counter right in front of customers, the big part of the Candy Kitchen’s business is the soda fountain, where a customer can get anything from a banana split, shake or float to their favorite hand-made flavored soda.
“We have the best employees ever,” said Brenda of her mainly teenage crew that she describes as “dedicated and respectful,” while also calling them “good listeners.”
The Ochiltrees know the importance of customer service and training. “I don’t want any employee to feel like they don’t know what they’re doing,” she said.
Brenda called being named among the top 40 an honor, and said it came as a surprise, although she was aware of the nomination.
In a bio written on the Iowa Restaurant Association Top 40 Women website, the organization quoted Brenda as saying, “Our mantra is good, better, best, never let it rest, till your good is better and your better is best. That is something that we teach all of our employees,” smiles Brenda.
Prior to the Candy Kitchen, the couple owned the funeral home in Wilton where customer service meant helping grieving families. Her philosophy is unwavering.
“Be sincere. Treat people as you would want to be treated and do it with a smile.”
She credits owning one of the oldest businesses (1910) and the oldest commercial building (1856) in Wilton to her husband, Lynn, a lifelong Wilton resident who loves history and has continued to grow a museum of local interest in the rear of the store.
Brenda says owning the Candy Kitchen “is a pretty big deal” and said the couple was fortunate to buy the business from the former owners. She is proud of the fact it’s one business in Wilton that draws customers from all over the state, anxious to get a taste of history.