Opening her inaugural Gerdy’s Gourmet Popcorn in June on Grand Avenue in Waukegan, Nina Davis launched her second shop nine months later in North Chicago, with three more stores on the horizon.
Selling popcorn is a secondary part of Davis’ mission. Hiring young people aged 16 to 24 and helping them develop the skills to succeed in the workplace and become leaders tops her list. Such skills will breed financial success, she said.
“This is not about money,” she said. “It’s about serving people. If you serve the people in the proper way, the money will be there because you are serving the community.”
Gerdy’s Gourmet Popcorn opened its second shop on Wednesday inside the James A. Lovell Federal Healthcare Center in North Chicago, selling popcorn in a variety of flavors to dozens of people walking past the store in its first hour.
One of those customers was Maurice Huley of Waukegan. He works at the hospital and was walking past the shop on Wednesday morning. He liked what he saw and how it tasted.
“It’s pretty cool,” Huley said. “It’s by the cafeteria. We have nothing like it here. It seems pretty cool.”
Developing a business plan based on employee success starts with the name Gerdy’s and continues with a training program to help employees develop not just workplace skills but also the ability to become responsible adults.
“It’s an acronym,” Davis said, referring to the name. “It stands for growth, employment, resilience, developing youth success. We develop a good work ethic. It includes financial management.”
After a worker in the shop accumulates 20 hours of helping people at the store, Davis said they earn a certificate in customer service.
Aaliyah Welch of North Chicago said she began working for Davis when the entrepreneur was making flavored popcorn in her kitchen. Davis moved to an incubator and eventually opened the shop in Waukegan. Welch has assisted with the training.
“We want to help people have a better life,” Welch said.
Opening a second location is a major move forward for any business, and Davis said doing it in less than a year is a major achievement. She was operating the initial shop on Grand Avenue when the opportunity arose with a call from the U.S. Veterans Administration.
“It’s a huge step,” Davis said. “The VA reached out to me. A lot of people who work here have been to the shop on Grand Avenue. They don’t have anything like it at the hospital. They said you can start, grow and build from here.”
Davis said she will soon be planning to open shops at the VA hospitals in Chicago, the western suburbs and Milwaukee.
U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Mark Lewis was at the opening. He said he has lived in Waukegan for the past two years since being assigned to Naval Station Great Lakes. He likes Davis’ approach to hiring and training young people.
“I told the people here how she employs the youth and puts them on the right path,” Lewis said. “I saw it as an opportunity to build up young people.”
One of the necessities for a business owner to operate multiple shops is feeling comfortable when the store is operating without them present. Quamar Duty of North Chicago started working for Gerdy’s five months ago. He said he had some managerial responsibilities at a previous job. He is the manager of the North Chicago location.
“This is a great opportunity,” Duty said. “We’re teaching the youth and putting them on the right path. This is an opportunity to help people.”
North Chicago Mayor Leon Rockingham Jr. was at the opening. He said he has known Davis for several years, seeing her at different events. He is aware of her philosophy of people first and believes it will breed success. He thinks she can turn the business into a chain of shops.
“Once she gets this shop going, she will know how to open a third and a fourth and more,” Rockingham said. “The popcorn tastes very good.
“She has a lot of different favors, and it gets people’s interest,” he said. “I can see shops in not just Chicago but Milwaukee, Minnesota and Michigan.”
