Idea becomes reality with Wild About Popcorn store
October 4, 2019
By KATIE EGAN ([email protected]) , Cape Coral Daily Breeze
Julie and Ed Caracappa are proof you should never give up on your dreams.
When they moved to Cape Coral from Austin, Texas, they didn’t envision opening a popcorn store. But Wild About Popcorn has been going strong for about a year and a half since opening in March 2018.
By chance, the store’s owner, Julie Caracappa took an entrepreneur course and the business plan she created for the class ended up becoming a reality.
“It’s been a year and a half of unbelievable hard work and sleepless nights, but we absolutely love what we do,” said business development manager Ed Caracappa.
The Caracappas live in Cape Coral and they wanted to keep their business local.
“And we wanted it to be more of an experience,” Ed said, “rather than a place where you just go and buy stuff.”
The kitchen and store are open seven days a week. Ed said sometimes people come in just to watch them pop popcorn.
“We cook, so everything is always really fresh,” he said. “Unique to the Cape is that it’s all done right here.”
They don’t do anything off-site, save for the ice cream they sell from Zirilli’s Chilly Treats.
Wild About Popcorn, located at 1311 Del Prado Blvd. S, Suite D, also sells gluten-free and vegan popcorn.
“The big deal for us is that everything we make here is our own recipe,” Ed said. “We do a lot of work to be unique in what we make.”
Wild About Popcorn also doesn’t sell anything premade.
They have over 60 flavors. Right now, sea salt caramel is the most popular flavor. Regular caramel is No. 2.
“And actually, believe it or not, with all of the gourmet popcorn, buttery is No. 3,” Julie said. “But it’s the best buttery you’re going to have.”
Ed and Julie said they’re fans of the jalapeno cheddar.
Ed also likes the Flaming Not Cheetos.
The sour patch is one of their more unique flavors.
“We put together a recipe to get that sweet and sour mix,” Ed said. “It tastes pretty much like the candies. It surprises people, though, because even though you know what it is before you put it in your mouth, you just don’t expect that to come from popcorn.”
They’re always experimenting with different flavors, too.
“We listen to what customers ask for,” Julie said. “And then a lot of them we just come up with on our own.”
Wild About Popcorn also contributes to a lot of community events and fundraisers.
They also provide popcorn for events like weddings and baby showers.
Wild About Popcorn might not have come to fruition if it weren’t for a May 2017 newspaper article Julie found about an eight-week entrepreneur course from Goodwill.
“Honestly, I just took that class to go out and learn something I knew nothing about,” she said. “I had no envisions of opening a business.”
But she had to pick a business to write about for her business plan.
Julie was always intrigued by a popcorn store in Austin one of their friends worked at.
“As I was doing the business plan and learning more and more about it and doing the research, I decided, you know what? This could actually work here.”
And that’s how Wild About Popcorn was born.
“No matter what stage and age you are in your life, you never know what littlest thing is going to change your life,” Julie said.
Wild About Popcorn is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday-Friday; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday; and 12 to 5 p.m., Sunday
For information, call 239-829-0527 or visit wildaboutpopcorn.com
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