ANN ARBOR, MI — On a weekday afternoon in downtown Ann Arbor, Chera Tramontin looked out from Kilwins and saw just two customers sitting outside a nearby lunch spot.
“They should be having their lunch rush,” she said. “Businesses can’t live like this.”
After 42 years in operation, Kilwins at 107 E. Liberty St. will close permanently Dec. 31. Tramontin, who took over the shop from her mother, Karen Piehutkowski, said the decision was made three years ago, in late 2022 amid declining foot traffic, rising costs and changes within the Kilwins franchise.
“It’s a ghost town down here,” she said. “Monday through Wednesday, you could come morning, noon or night and find a parking spot.”
Tramontin cited the COVID-19 pandemic as a turning point. Remote work emptied nearby office buildings and changed consumer habits, she said.
“COVID made a lot of people learn how to work from home,” she said. “All these office buildings that used to have people come out for lunch or walk around town — that’s gone.”
The economic pressures have compounded. Ingredient costs have soared, including cocoa, which makes up much of Kilwins’ product line of chocolate, ice cream, fudge and other sweets. When the shop opened, a pound of chocolate sold for $9.99. Now, it sells for $42.99, Tramontin said.
“I don’t pretend to be the cheapest in town,” she said. “I have a good product. It’s expensive because the cost to make it is really expensive.”
Gross sales have dropped to a quarter of what they once were, while rent and wages have continued to rise and prices have doubled, Tramontin said.
Tramontin goes over to the counter to help a customer complete a purchase. She could count the number of customers so far that day on her hand.
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“That is not sustainable,” Tramontin said. “And the trend at this point isn’t going up, it’s going down. So that’s what I’m seeing in terms of the culture of Ann Arbor.”
Kilwins is not the only downtown Ann Arbor business to have closed recently.
Downtown Home and Garden, 210 Ashley St., will close Dec. 24 after almost 120 years. The nonprofit 826michigan relocated from 115 E. Liberty Street to Ypsilanti. Redhawk Grill, 316 S. State St., closed its doors in May after 33 years. The business was then evicted for not paying its nearly $10,000-a-month rent. Other longtime businesses 16 Hands at 407 N. 5th Ave. and Ten Thousand Villages closed their Ann Arbor stores this year.
Though rent was not the sole reason for Kilwins’ closure, Tramontin acknowledged it was part of a broader set of challenges and is grateful for the landlords, A2 Curtis LLC, for being “fair” throughout Kilwins’ time in the building.
“I really like my landlords,” she said. “They gave us a chance 40 years ago when nobody else would. My mom was a divorced woman in the ’80s trying to start a business. I appreciate them.”
In a statement, Benjamin Curtis, said A2 Curtis is sorry Tramontin did not extend Kilwins’ lease. Because Kilwins was such a long-running tenant, the rent “has always been artificially low,” close to 50% less than market, he said.
“A2 Curtis LLC has never lost a tenant due to rent. Most of our retailers have been with us for decades because we’re gentle on rents and increases,” Curtis wrote in an email. “The forced closures during Covid was a particularly rough time for downtown business. However, we did everything in our power to help our tenants and we did not loose a single retailer while so many others shut their doors permanently.”
He noted Ann Arbor’s “ever-increasing taxes” drive high rents and prices. Further, the cost of keeping up old historical buildings sometimes exceeds what rents generate. A2 Curtis never charged Kilwins for common area maintenance, building insurance or water. “It is our philosophy that if our tenants are successful, we’re successful.”
Kilwins Ann Arbor was the first official franchise store in the company’s history, opening in 1983 after the business launched in Petoskey in 1947. Tramontin stressed the incipient brand felt like a family all learning together.
But in recent years, she said, the company, which has nearly 200 branches nationwide, underwent a rebranding that felt increasingly corporate. They wanted the employees to wear uniforms, while the store was forced to employ “extremely sterile” branding, Tramontin said. She didn’t want to “become a Chipotle,” or another chain restaurant where every location is identical.
“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.
She asked herself if the current iteration of Kilwins was where she wanted to work every day anymore. It didn’t feel fun or like her store anymore. It felt like she was a manager for someone else’s store, she said.
Kilwins’ third owners sold it in 2023 to private equity firm Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, based in California.
Efforts last week to reach Levine Leichtman and the Kilwins headquarters for comment were not successful.
When Tramontin decided to close three years ago, Tramontin thought about selling the store, but Kilwins corporate declined to approve the sale, not liking the store setup and culture that had been built over 40 years, she said.
“They said we weren’t branded well enough. We were too cool, too funky,” she said.
Tramontin was forced to “delete her individual flare that made the store special and unique,” Curtis said. The “cookie cutter” brand was no longer in line with the original Kilwins, he said.
She opted to let the contract run out and then part ways. Having already decided to close in late 2022, the 2023 sale confirmed her instincts.
“This is also a really exciting time for us, too,” Tramontin said. “In some ways it’s like a divorce. I’m divorcing the company and I’m moving on and they’re going to find someone else.”
Despite the challenges, Tramontin expressed deep gratitude for the community that supported Kilwins over the decades.
“I’ve made my best friends here. I’ve had amazing staff through the years that I still keep in touch with,” she said. “I’ve been to weddings, funerals, baby showers of my customers and employees. I couldn’t have done it without them.”
She said she hopes to leave behind the memory of a joyful space.
“I want to leave the memory of a happy place,” she said. “I’ve seen kids grow up. I’ve seen parents, grandparents come and go. I just hope they remember the good times here.”
Tramontin isn’t leaving downtown entirely. She and her mother own the building that once housed the Del Rio Bar, operated by her stepfather. She’s opened a yoga studio called Blue Monk Studio in the same building, above Grizzly Peak on the third floor at 120 W. Washington St.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to try,” she said.
As for the future of Kilwins in Ann Arbor, Tramontin said she could see another franchise location opening eventually.
“Ann Arbor always likes something new at first,” she said. “But it’s getting people back in the door and getting people downtown — that’s the challenge.”
She offered advice to anyone considering opening a business in the area: sit out front of where you’d consider opening a business and count how many people walk past.
Reflecting on Kilwins’ closure, Tramontin said she’s at peace.
“Everything comes to an end,” she said. “We had an amazing run of 42 years. Business is just different now.”
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