Apr. 15—ROCHESTER — Carroll’s Corn, Rochester’s legendary snack icon, is investing an estimated $3.5 million in a large production facility to propel the 33-year-old popcorn business to the next level, while still serving freshly popped treats to its loyal downtown customers.
Carroll’s Corn owner Seamus Kolb paid $2 million for the former Deutsch Furniture Gallery store at 4825 Commercial Drive SW on April 10. The 12,000-square-foot building has been empty since Deutsch Furniture moved to the larger space at 4530 South Maine Ave. in 2025.
“The plan is to take what we’ve been manufacturing in our (950-square-foot) retail space and give it a dedicated home,” he said. Construction and machinery costs are estimated to push the total project investment to about $3.5 million.
Driving the change is the growth of Carroll’s Corn on shelves of stores like Hy-vee and Scheels as well as small local locations like The Shoe Bar and Ye Olde Butcher Shoppe. The popcorn is now sold at Scheels in 16 states as well as at University of Iowa Hawkeye sporting events.
That aspect of the business launched out of necessity during the COVID 19 pandemic, but it has evolved into a major revenue stream for Carroll’s Corn.
“That side of the business has been growing rapidly and our expansion into Scheels has really pushed us over the edge. The goal is to bring back an even better experience for our downtown customers, while also giving my team a better experience when we’re filling huge business-to-business orders,” said Kolb. “It’s a major change. We’re not rolling around in cash, but I believe in Carroll’s Corn. We’re grateful for what we’ve had, and we want to be ready for what’s next.”
Setting up the new production facility will take several months with the goal to be operational by the holiday season, which is the busiest time at Carroll’s.
The South Rochester facility will have room for more people and machinery plus it is more efficient for getting deliveries on the road. Carroll’s currently has one full-time employee whose job is to take the orders up from the subway to the street to be picked up by UPS.
This is another milestone in the growth of Carroll’s Corn. Kolb, who started as an employee when he was 15, took over ownership of the business from founder and swim coach Pat Carroll in 2021. In 2025, a second downtown subway shop was opened to complement the original location under the Kahler Hotel, often called “Mayo Clinic’s break room.”
Carroll’s Corn more than doubled its team in 2025 from 11 to 24 employees. He expects to add more jobs to staff the new facility.
One key fact of this project that Kolb stressed is that Carroll’s Corn will continue to serve fresh popped popcorn to its customers in downtown Rochester.
“We’ll kind of return to our roots a little bit to take care of the people that come through our door and give them the attention that we used to be able to do, where now we’ve got 20 people with their head down filling bags of popcorn,” he said. “We’re not moving anywhere. I’ve spent 20 years in this subway, and so it’s going take a lot to get me to leave.”
