Today we’d like to introduce you to Funi McLoughlin and Matt Finn.
Funi and Matt, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Matt and I met in Seattle and this is where we began to formulate the idea of Gnarly Knots before we made the decision to move back to Chicago (where Matt is from originally). In the beginning, we started doing Farmers Markets, schlepping our delicious pretzels all over the Western Suburbs while honing in on our craft. At the Farmers market we sold three types of pretzels: salted, Cheese-topped and Cinnamon Raisin.
Occasionally we would sell some of our signature Stuffed Pretzels for Catering orders. During a particularly slow and rainy market day, we were left with a lot of Pretzels and I hated the idea of throwing them away…. this is where we developed the Pretzel Chip concept. Once we had the chips we know that we needed a spot with an oven that we could call our own.
We found that spot in Winfield – deliberately choosing a small shop so that we might have a chance to further figure out exactly what we wanted to be when we grew up (business wise). On the one hand, we intended to explore the Whole Sale Chip market and we just assumed that would be the big ticket item for us. Originally we never intended on opening our spot to the public. However, since we had to make the pretzels anyway (in order to later make chips out of them), we thought, why not open for a few hours and day and see what happens.
Through luck, a few mistakes and a superior pretzel product, we began to gain quite a following and word was spreading fast about our tiny little house and it’s fabulous product. Now, we are so busy in the shop that we struggle to find the time to keep up with our Pretzel Chip orders at times.
In addition to the second location opened in Barrington last year, we also operated a Gnarly Food Truck for a few summers to get our product, fresh and hot, out to folks that might not have otherwise heard of us!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The biggest struggle for us is knowing how much product to make in a day.
Our dough is made fresh daily, then manipulated into pretzels AND Stuffed Pretzels…. this requires quite a bit of work on our part. You never know if someone is going to come in and order 50 pretzels at once or if no one is coming in at all. So, there is the constant tango of too little or too much dough.
We outgrew our ‘small’ shop very quickly… so we’ve had to come up with some creative solutions to a lack of space.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Gnarly Knots Pretzel Company story. Tell us more about the business.
Our business is Gnarly Knots Pretzel Company and it’s awesome! We make everything Pretzel!! Traditional Pretzels, Mini Pretzels, Pretzel Bites, Pretzel Buns…. heck, we even put pretzel chips in our Chocolate Chip Cookies!! Our specialty is the Stuffed Pretzel, in which we take all sorts of delicious food items and stuff them inside a pretzel!! Our most popular being the Three Cheese Stuffed Pretzel or the Italian Beef Stuffed Pretzel. People go zany for them!
We also make all homemade soups and sauces. We package and distribute Gnarly Knots Pretzel chips to local breweries and a few small local stores.
The Stuffed Pretzels are our shining jewel. We couldn’t be prouder of not only how amazing they are but how well received…. people go crazy for them! This is most definitely the thing about our company that sets us apart!
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Huge role! Of course, we do everything we can to help it along – prepare, taste, experiment, put the word out… but you never know if it’s enough. Since Matt and I are kinda ding dongs…. there was a bit of a learning curve but we found that if we just stayed consistent with our product, we could keep ourselves feeling positive about that curve.
We were lucky to have the beginning customers that we did… they chatted us up out there with their friends and acquaintances and soon we started hearing people say “so and so said I HAD to come here!” It was pretty freakin’ cool!!
Being on TV helped too!
Pricing:
- Salted Pretzel $3
- Pretzel Dog $5
- Stuffed Pretzels $7.50 (includes a sauce, generally)
Contact Info:
- Address: 27W570 High Lake Road, Winfield IL 60190
115 S. Hough Street, Barrington IL 60010 - Website: gnarlyknots.com or gnarlyknotspretzels.com (Barrington location)
- Phone: 630-473-0439 (Winfield) or 847-701-5668 (Barrington)
- Email: gnarlyknots@rocketmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/gnarlyknots/
- Facebook: facebook.com/gnarlyknots
- Twitter: twitter.com/gnarlyknots
Image Credit:
Caroline Taft and Chris Pestel www.thebrazengourmand.com
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