Spirels Yogurt in South Elgin celebrates five years

Sisters Shirley Tyrrell and Sandra Donatello took a risk five years ago, and decided to open their own small business along the Randall Road corridor.

Tyrrell, who was a bookkeeper, and Donatello, who was a nurse, hoped that their new Spirels Yogurt Delites shop would give them independence in their work lives, and eventually help them retire from their regular jobs.

Now, as they celebrate Spirels' five-year anniversary in South Elgin, they realize they got that and more. Both are now retired from their other positions, and dedicated to keeping Spirels a thriving part of the corridor.

"We have since learned that opening a business within a small community such as South Elgin has greater significance than just upon the two of us," Donatello said. "We have found that our family has greatly expanded to include this larger community. We feel both proud and blessed that we have achieved this success upon our fifth anniversary.

"I believe that Spirels has lasted because we treat our customers like part of our family," she said. "Many come in to share news, events or just to chat about the weather while consuming our amazing FroYo."

"Bottom line - we are two little old ladies with a purpose - have fun at any age and eat lots of frozen yogurt."

The shop opened on May 10, 2011, when self-serve frozen yogurt was a relatively new concept in the area. There was a similar shop to the north on Randall, but nothing in South Elgin. Since then, many other similar shops have opened, and also closed along Randall Road, but Spirels remains strong, Donatello said.

The duo chose to go into the frozen yogurt business because it was unique in the area, and Tyrrell had a friend with ties in the industry who said it was a good opportunity.

They started off their grand opening with the slogan, "The dessert craze everyone is talking about."

Soon they found out how true their slogan was, as customers came in saying their kids had heard about the shop in class, and begged their parents to take them to the business where there were 10 different flavors and 50 toppings to choose from each day.

The sisters also heard that high school kids would scream in the halls and spread the word to each other every time the shop's popular yellow cake batter flavor was back.

The owners built upon that word-of-mouth and grew their business with grass-roots efforts, passing out gift certificates at every school, church and 5K run they could find.

"It was surprising and gratifying how quickly people learned about our little shop," Donatello said.

Now Spirels has many regulars who come weekly, and even sometimes daily, she said.

"We're open year-round and have never had a day in which we had no customers, even during the coldest of winter days," she said.

Spirels has changed a bit since it first opened, with renovations and a new layout to better promote the product, Donatello said.

It also has a new slogan for the fifth anniversary - "More than dessert. It's an adventure."

The sisters say the past five years have been a great adventure.

"Since persisting for five years now, we have watched as families have grown and kids - including our employees - have left for college," Donatello said.

"Toddlers trying their first taste of FroYo are now 7 years old and are old hands at serving up their own special cup of frozen yogurt with all their favorite toppings. Yet, we still get new customers daily who just saw our sign or heard about us from a friend or neighbor."

Spirels is at 309 S. Randall Road. To contact Spirels call (847) 888-9880.

• Amy Williams' column covers all the news of business along the Randall Road corridor from Crystal Lake to Batavia. Contact her at randallbiz@comcast.net or at (847) 894-5036.