Door County Love is not just the name of Kick Ash’s flagship product — it’s the company’s business model.
Carol Ash, who was born and raised in Door County, founded the Ellison Bay business with her husband, Chris, in 2014 to sell and distribute her homemade granola. Since then, the business has grown to include coffee roasted by Chris, a gluten-free bakery and a retail store featuring Door County products, books, outdoor items and even pet supplies.
Ash started making granola at home for her four children. A friend urged her to start selling it and Ash, who was a physical therapist, debated if she would have time. After giving it a try, she realized making granola could be done on a more flexible schedule.
“The kids would go to school, and I could go to the kitchen and bake,” Ash says.
When she started, Ash drove to a commercial kitchen in Algoma and sold the product online and wholesale through a few outlets, with her family making the deliveries.
Eventually they began renting space from Island Orchard Cider, where the owner encouraged them to open a retail store.
“I never was going to do retail; we were just going to do wholesale and online just because I didn’t want to be tied down to a space,” Ash says. “That became the thing that I loved doing.”
That led Ash in 2019 to purchase the former Trinity Lutheran Church, where she attended church growing up in Ellison Bay.
Ash describes the store as a community space where the Kick Ash book club meets and where people can grab a coffee, beer or wine; sit on the deck or in the garden; or browse the store.
As part of its commitment to the community, Ash says they remain open year-round, which is possible only because of staff she describes as “five star.”
The business has had fun with the play on words from the Kick Ash name and plans to brand all products as Kick Ash in the coming year.
That doesn’t mean there will be any less Door County Love — just more Kick Ash products.
