Famous 42-year-old ice cream shop shuts with blunt 5-word warning | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

Businesses are struggling across the United States. Eight major retail brands have announced closures this year alone, and that’s not even considering all of the small businesses that are closing or on the verge of it.

Unfortunately, in 2024, UBS analysts estimated that U.S. retail closures could reach 45,000 stores by 2029. Analysts said these mass closures would likely be driven by small companies shutting their doors.

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Now, a famous ice cream store is one of those businesses. The store has been open for 42 years, but that long run is coming to an end on December 31, 2025. The store’s owner said that this decision was a long time coming, though.

The owner of the shuttering ice cream store also had a blunt warning that consumers everywhere should pay careful attention to.

Rising operational costs led an ice cream shop to close down.

Image source&colon; Hammerschmidt/picture alliance via Getty Images

Famous 42-year-old ice cream store shuts its doors

The ice cream store that is closing for good is a branch of Kilwins, located at 107 E. Liberty Street. The Ann Arbor store is ceasing operations for a variety of reasons, with its owner citing:

Soaring ingredient costs. Cocoa is a key ingredient, as Kilwins sells fudge, ice cream, and sweets. Cocoa sold for $9.99 per pound when the shop opened, but now sells for $42.99 per pound.
Reduced food traffic. Gross sales have dropped to a quarter of what they previously were, the owner said.
Rising rent and labor costs. The owner said that rent has gone up, and the cost of wages has doubled.

All of this has made continuing operations unsustainable. The owner, Chera Tramontin, took over operations from her mother but decided to close back in 2022, both due to declining traffic and changes within the Kilwins franchise. Now that day will soon arrive.

Shuttering Kilwins’ first official franchise

The Kilwins that is closing is a special one, because it was the first official franchise in Kilwins’ company history. While it was the first, today it is one of many. In fact:

Kilwins started operations in 1947 in Petoskey, Michigan.
It now has over 150 locations across the U.S.
The majority of its locations are franchises.
Kilwins’ franchises are primarily located east of the Rocky Mountains, but it has plans to expand.

While many Kilwins stores will remain open, the closure of this first franchised location still marks the end of an era.

Private equity firm played a role in Kilwins store’s downfall

Unfortunately, private equity firms also played a role in the downfall of this once beloved ice cream store.

When the third owner of Kilwins sold the company to private equity firm Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, Tramontin said things changed, and the company became increasingly corporate.

“It wouldn’t matter if you came to my store or the Plymouth store or anywhere in Florida — we all are the same,” she said. “They said we weren’t branded well enough. We were too cool, too funky.”

The store lost its charm as the owner was forced to “delete her individual flair that made the store special and unique.”

Owner of closing Kilwins shop shares blunt warning

As her store shuts its doors, Tramontin has a blunt warning to share.

“Businesses can’t live like this,” she said. She was referring to the fact that Ann Arbor, Michigan, was a “ghost town” during what should be the lunch rush. “Monday through Wednesday, you could come morning, noon, or night and find a parking spot.”

More Retail:

Unfortunately, Tramontin said Covid changed the economic landscape, with foot traffic declining sharply as the pandemic prompted a change to work-from-home. People never really came back to the offices, and people simply are not visiting the area enough.

Many other downtown businesses also shut their doors

Kilwins is just one of many examples of this troubling trend. Many other downtown businesses are also closing, including:

Downtown Home and Garden, after almost 120 years
Redhawk Grill, after 33 years
16 Hands
Ten Thousand Villages

Consumers need to act to save small businesses

If people do not make a point to frequent these small businesses, Tramontin’s warning will come true. Companies simply will not be able to survive.

All of the small stores that once made downtowns like Ann Arbor charming and unique will disappear for good.