Word: popcorneering
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Five years ago, two big-city businessmen visited Dale Humphrey, mayor of a small town called Popcorn, Ind. (pop. about 50). They had just the kernel of an idea for a business--gourmet popcorn--and visited the town on a whim. Humphrey charmed them with stories about his neighbors, passionate farmers who lived and breathed to harvest corn. Inspired, the two entrepreneurs started selling online and opened up a small shop in Manhattan, getting most of their product from the good people of Popcorn...
...little company grossed just $1 million that first year, but its founders, Warren Struhl and Richard Demb, had big dreams. Their first shop attracted the attention of Isiah Thomas, head coach of the New York Knicks. Renamed Dale and Thomas Popcorn, after the mayor and the Indiana University hoops legend, the company expects to score $50 million in sales this year and has ambitions "to do to popcorn what Starbucks did to coffee," Thomas says...
...that, Dale and Thomas is trying to re-create the magic that the coach felt in 2003, when he walked into Struhl and Demb's shop (then called Popcorn, Indiana). He was on his way to Madison Square Garden and stopped in for a snack. His first bite took him back to his childhood in Chicago. "I remember thinking, I have to be a part of this," Thomas says. "All of my fond memories come from everyone sitting around, telling stories and sharing a bowl of popcorn...
Until then, the company made most of its money selling tins of popcorn on the Web, but you can't eat a bowl with your kids online. "It's something people share," says co-founder Demb. "Popcorn is a snack food with a real emotional connection." Thomas' investment bankrolled a steady expansion--the company has opened up 12 stores over the past four years--while it has perfected its slightly hokey, down-home Midwestern look. Wooden barrels offer free samples in the front of the store, and big pots gleaming in the back remind customers that every kernel is popped...
...Hampshire, is a lot like the other half-dozen VFW halls and American Legion posts John McCain stopped in during the northeast leg of his "No Surrender" tour. The panels on the low ceiling are yellowed from cigarette smoke; the dark red carpet holds flakes from peanuts and popcorn. McCain stands at the front of the room with a row of grim, mostly gray, men behind him. This is the group of Vietnam veterans who have been traveling with him; they're here both to boost the campaign's morale and to help McCain work the military-heavy crowds...