Dana Stallings, a seasoned Jacksonville entrepreneur, owns a Kilwins store in the St. Johns Town Center and a second location in St. Johns County.
Tell me about your background.
I’ve lived in Jacksonville for a little over 30 years. We moved here because my husband was in the Navy, and we raised both of our children here, who now have children of their own. I've kind of been an entrepreneur all my life. I owned and operated a children’s daycare center for over 20 years, and in the midst of that I realized that I wanted to do something different, which is when I opened my first Kilwins. My husband became an attorney after leaving the military, and now he handles that kind of piece of our business, as well.
What inspired you to open your own Kilwins?
Well, we always used to go to St. Augustine Kilwins stores. At that time, we didn't even know that it was a franchise, but it was around that same time that I realized I wanted to do something different, other than childcare. We had talked about getting into the diner business or something, because when I was growing up, I used to work in a diner, and I always loved that. We happened to be talking and having that conversation at a Kilwins and we looked on the wall and there was a map that said, “Own your own Kilwins.” We picked up the brochure that night and went home, submitted an inquiry, and they called us the next day.
Can you tell me more about Kilwins?
Kilwins is a chocolate, fudge and ice cream shop. It's a franchise. We opened in the St. Johns Town Center when the shopping center first opened, so just about 20 years ago. It’s been a great business for us and just a lot of fun because the whole family can work at it. Our girls kind of grew up working in it.
And now you own two Kilwins locations. Tell me about your new store.
Yes! We opened a second Kilwins location on County Road 210, in St. Johns, and it's the first Kilwins with a drive-through, the first stand-alone location. It's been a big adventure for us because at first the franchise didn’t really believe in doing a drive-through, but we thought: Why not? Everybody wants to stay in their cars and use a drive-through.
It's all new to us; even though a drive-through isn’t new to most people, it's new to our Kilwins family. It's proved to be a great destination. It's just so fun to have the area.
How is your new location unique?
This new store is twice the size of our Town Center location. It has indoor and outdoor seating, which is just awesome. There aren’t very many days that it's a perfect day to sit outside and eat ice cream, right? This location, because it’s twice as big, it's just easier to see all the products, and thanks to all the windows it’s very bright inside!
What do you like the best about what you do?
I've always loved food, baking and cooking. It's just fun because people come in and they're excited. It's a place where you create memories with families. They come in because they want a sweet treat, or it's somebody's birthday, or there's a celebration. In the new location, we see so many grandparents bring in their grandchildren. We just love seeing them sit at the table.
