Did someone say 'Hot Chip Day'? Rockford staple celebrates 90 years of salty snacking
Kathy McKnight was on a mission Tuesday morning.
The Garden Prairie resident ventured over to Mrs. Fisher’s Potato Chips, 1231 Fulton Avenue, with a plastic container in hand ready to satisfy her need for a salty snack.
“I have a two-pound container that I’ve had for a few years, and I’m also getting some chips hot off the line.” McKnight said. “Today, I’m getting the ripple chips but normally I go for the straight-up no-ridge chips. The taste is crispy. They’re salty but not too salty. They’re the best chips around.”
More:‘We want to be Illinois' chip': Rockford-based Mrs. Fisher's chips expands to Peoria area
From Mr. Fisher's to Mrs. Fisher's
Mrs. Fisher’s Potato Chips has been a staple in Rockford since The Great Depression.
The company was founded in 1932 by Eugene and Ethel Fisher from their home at the corner of Charles and 7th streets.
“In the beginning days, the business was called Mr. Fisher’s,” company Vice President Christopher Spiess said. “When Eugene decided to leave Ethel Fisher for somebody else, Ethel’s churchgoing pals told her that she should change the name, so she did.”
Sticking to the west side
Following the Fisher’s divorce, the business relocated from the couple’s home to a small brick building at 6th Street and 5th Avenue, where potatoes were unloaded from trucks, peeled by hand and then cooked.
The company moved to the corner of Fulton Avenue and Grant Street in northwest Rockford in the 1960s before shifting to its current home in 1978.
“People like the idea that they can come in here and get potato chips right off the line,” said Mrs. Fisher’s Potato Chip owner Roma Hailman. “We know everybody by their first names. So, I think that’s what’s important about keeping it here on the west side.”
The next generation
Hailman, a 1974 Boylan High School graduate, began working at Mrs. Fisher’s in the 1980s.
“I started from the bottom. I packed chips, swept floors and cleaned the bathrooms,” she said. “Over time, I moved from packing to retail. I came into the office and did accounts receivable and then did accounts payable.”
Hailman and her late husband purchased the company from previous owners Pete, Paul and Chuck DiVenti in 2007.
10,000 to 15,000 pounds a day
Mrs. Fisher’s produces between 10,000 and 15,000 pounds of potato chips per day.
The production process takes about seven minutes to slice the potatoes, fry the chips in oil, season and store them for packaging the following day.
Mrs. Fisher’s eight flavors of potato chips are distributed to grocery stores in central and northern Illinois as well as Wisconsin. The company plans to eventually distribute its chips at stores in Iowa, Indiana and Missouri.
“We love the fact that we’re the underdogs and, if we can make those national brands a little bit upset in the grocery stores, to us that’s a victory,” Spiess said, “That means they notice that we pose a threat to them. We all enjoy what we’re doing and the sky’s the limit as to what our capabilities are.”
It's almost Hot Chip Day
Mrs. Fisher’s will host another Hot Chip Day from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on December 23.
The popular event allows customers to drive up to the business and purchase bags of potato chips that are fresh from the fryer.
“I’ve got a team that’s literally hovering over the conveyor with brown paper bags, filling them up one-by-one,” Spiess said. “In addition to bags of fresh chips, we’ll have holiday chocolates, malted milk balls, yogurt pretzels and brand new hoodies that we just got in. It’s a great way for us to see our customers.”
'We're a family'
While Eugene and Ethel Fisher’s marriage didn’t last, the company’s iconic logo, which was designed by Eugene Fisher, has stood the test of time.
The logo depicts a smiling potato dancing with two children.
“That’s the first thing people look at,” Hailman said. “They see the dancing potato and right away they know it’s ours.”
Hailman, 66, is the first female owner of Mrs. Fisher’s Potato Chips since company founder, Ethel Fisher.
“I could retire, but I have no intention of doing so,” Hailman said. “I enjoy what I do. I enjoy my employees. We’re a family.”
Ken DeCoster covers business news and features. Contact him at 815-987-1391, kdecoster@rrstar.com or @DeCosterKen.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Happy Hot Chip Day: Rockford's Mrs. Fisher's Potato Chips turns 90
