A sweet quarter-century for Knoke’s Chocolate and Nuts

Matthew Day

Staff

April 28, 2025

HUDSON – Though Dave Knoke said owning his own chocolate and candy store was never his personal dream, he feels lucky to have taken such a sweet path. 

“I didn’t go to Europe, I didn’t go to culinary school, I just said, ‘Hey, let’s make it – we can do this,’” Dave said. 

Now, as he savors a quarter-century of operating Knoke’s Chocolate and Nuts, he said, “Yeah, I made the right choice.” 

“Definitely, it’s been good,” he said. “Not very many days (when) I don’t want to get up and go to work.” 

Dave said his work has both expanded and contracted since he and his then-wife opened Knoke’s in 2000. 

When he became sole owner in 2005, he said the following five years saw him “basically living with the store.”  

Though his personal hours aren’t as demanding now as back then, Dave said Knoke’s has grown as an operation, offering such high-quality treats as: 

• Boxed chocolates 
• Chocolate-covered caramels, with or without sea salt 
• Truffles 
• Turtles and nut clusters 
• English toffee 
• Chocolate bars 
• Peanut butter cups 
• Gourmet popcorn 
• Deluxe roasted nuts 
• Chocolate-covered potato chips, Oreos, marshmallows, graham crackers, nut clusters and more 

Dave said the store also creates special treats throughout the seasons, including caramel apples in fall, peanut (or cashew) brittle and sponge candy for Christmas and chocolate bunnies and eggs for Easter. 

Though many Knoke’s products are available via knokeschocolatesandnuts.com, he said the store in downtown Hudson – located at 218 Locust St. – features a full array of candies, cakes and ice cream, making it a popular stop for tourists year-round. 

Most of the credit for the store’s enduring popularity, though, Dave said, is due to local youngsters. 

“My best advertisement, I think, was the kids that would come in after school, or moms with kids that would come in and buy stuff,” he said, reflecting. “It was just that kind of a snowball.” 

Dave said he also credits the kids for conveying the correct pronunciation of his German last name: “kuh-NO-kee.” 

“You see a lot of kids, and then the parents will come in and the dad will say, ‘how do you say your name?’” he said. “And the kid will say, ‘I told you, Dad.’ It’s like a bet… and the kid will know, because he’s been there, the school talks about it, etc.” 

His tip for pronouncing the name, Dave said, is “I just tell people to say them all: K-N-O-K-E.” 

Knoke’s in a (k)nutshell 

Before making a name for himself as a chocolatier, Dave said he was simply trying to make a living in the livestock industry. 

A self-described “farm kid,” he said he grew up in Lancaster in Southwest Wisconsin, then attended the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in the ’80s to play football and study agriculture, some 200 miles from home. 

“I didn’t go home much, and I really haven’t been home since I came to River Falls – I stayed up in this area,” he said. 

After graduating, Dave said over the next 12-or-so years, he got married and pursued an enjoyable career of buying and selling livestock. 

The chocolate shop, he said, was an idea born by his wife at the time, and though he supported the venture and worked on it part-time, he continued his full-time work with livestock. 

However, Dave said as his industry changed to his dismay – “small farmers, small ranchers and things like that, now they’re pretty much gone” – he opted to work at Knoke’s full-time and grow the business. 

Dave said thanks to new equipment, they were able to maximize the 650-square-foot space and create new treats to satisfy the Hudson community’s sweet tooth. 

By 2005, though, he said the couple had agreed to part ways, deciding in the divorce settlement that he would retain the store. 

Drawing on the work ethic instilled in him from his farm days, Dave said his mindset for the next five years was “either I make it work or I’m (in trouble).” 

A new look for the store and the brand logo, he said, were among his first projects. 

Most pressing, though, Dave said, was his financial situation, as he had invested a great deal of his money – “all I had” – into the business. 

Unable to secure a more traditional business loan, he said his father, a retired farmer, was able to help secure a loan through an agricultural lender in his hometown. 

Though finances were tight and for years he was rarely able to take a break, Dave said he thinks back on this period as “probably some of the best times.” 

“It was a cramped, little store, and we made stuff right there, so I knew everybody that walked in, and it was fun,” he said. “It had a little cafe feel almost, or tavern. It was like everybody knew you, you knew them, and (we had) a lot of good conversations.” 

Business was good, too, Dave said – even through the 2008 financial crisis. 

“I’m the last one to feel a tough recession or something going on (economically),” he said, “and I’m the first one out of it, because everybody’s got a few bucks to buy some chocolate for their wife, or ice cream.” 

In 2011, Dave said his ongoing efforts enabled him to purchase a larger space just down the street. 

“I basically doubled everything: two chocolate cases, two ice cream cases – it was great,” he said. “Problem was, it grew too fast.” 

Demand for Knoke’s products had grown so much, Dave said, that he’d had trouble keeping his shelves stocked. 

His solution, he said, would come in 2014 when the owner of a local nut-roasting company – from which Knoke’s sourced nuts for its treats – retired and offered to sell his business to him. 

Dave said the purchase allowed him to not only vertically integrate but also acquire 3,600 square feet for production space, located in an industrial area of Hudson. 

There, in addition to roasting nuts, he said he was able to migrate his full chocolate production operations and use the remaining third of the space to establish a clean room. 

“(Now), I have much more room, so I’m buying equipment, keeping up with (in-store demand) and then I can do wholesale accounts, so it really took off,” he said. 

In addition to keeping his own shelves full, Dave said Knoke’s now sells through its website, as well as at select retailers, including wineries and high-end grocery stores.  

Orders of private-label products are also available, he said.  

With the expanded production and resultant success, Dave said in 2022 he was able to relocate Knoke’s storefront once more, purchasing the building next to his previous location. 

“First time I’ve owned a building in downtown Hudson,” he said. “It’s about 2,300 square feet, and I remodeled that last year… I have indoor seating, a restroom and 50-some cases of ice creams and (products).” 

A must in Hudson 

Over the years, Dave said it feels like the shop has gone from something of a local curiosity to becoming a brand/destination strongly associated with its city. 

“You know you’ve kind of made it, because when (people) say ‘Hudson,’ then a lot of times they say ‘Knoke’s – you’ve got to go there,’” he said. 

Though the store’s tubs of novelty candy (gummy worms, gummy bears, etc.) and ice cream, gelato and sorbet are sure crowd-pleasers, Dave said it’s the homemade products that make Knoke’s a must-stop. 

The secret to what makes the shop’s products so good, he said, is no secret at all: real ingredients, crafted with human care, prizing quality above all.

“Hershey’s and those guys, they’re mass-produced – who knows what they’re using (for ingredients),” he said. “You know when you buy a peanut butter cup from me, it’s (made with) real peanut butter. There’s love in it.” 

In some cases, Dave said people’s tastes have been influenced by years of eating poor-quality ingredients. 

“When I first bought the nut-roasting business and we’d be (giving out samples of) nuts downtown, a couple of people (said,) ‘I don’t like these, these don’t taste very good,’” he said. ”Somebody said to them, ‘Yeah, because the ones we eat are old and all hard and nasty – these are what they’re supposed to taste like.” 

Dave said it’s a joy to introduce others to the true potential of these treats that is often diminished by mass production. 

“A really good chocolate will be hard and has a ‘crisp’ when you break it – they’ll be snap,” he said. “A good piece of chocolate will taste a lot different than your (mass-produced) candy bar.”

Dave said it’s not just kids after school or families on vacation who make a point to pop into Knoke’s. 

Several famous visitors have shopped there over the years, he said, such as politicians (including former Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner), as well as television personalities Buddy Valastro (star of TLC’s “Cake Boss”) and even Martha Stewart. 

Dave said the latter’s visit, replete with entourage, was “kind of comical,” as he playfully demurred when she asked the tricks of his trade. 

“She was asking questions, and I said, ‘I can’t tell you all my secrets, Martha,’ he laughed. “She just walked away – didn’t say a comment or anything.” 

More commonly, when visitors are at a loss for words, Dave said it’s because they’re too busy enjoying their Knoke’s treats. 

Repeat customers, he said, represent another form of unspoken praise. 

Dave said he’s always appreciated the overwhelmingly positive feedback he’s gotten – though there’s one type of compliment he refuses to accept. 

“(When people say), ‘This is better than my mom’s or my grandma’s,’ I say, ‘Well, no, your grandma’s is always better – don’t get yourself in trouble,’” he laughed. 

Still a treat 

Twenty-five years in, and Knoke said he still seeks new inspiration for the store, its products and packaging. 

In addition to paying visits to independent stores and keeping an eye on confectionery trends, he said he also attends a candy convention in Chicago every few years. 

“Sometimes I have the mentality that I’ve got to keep going forward or somebody’ll catch me,” he said. “‘Hunt or be hunted,’ one guy said. If you stop trying to improve, you quickly become the hunted… I want to do a good job.” 

Though he’d never anticipated his “candy man” identity, Dave said he’s come to embrace the role – even if it makes for the occasional ribbing from old pals. 

“I’ve got some college friends, and they still chuckle at me – one calls me ‘Wonka,’” he said. 

Particularly during the store’s first five years, Dave said he was often met with disbelief at his career choice. 

“It was tough, and that was when your buddies are kind of jabbing you, (asking) ‘What are you doing?’” he said. “But now it’s definitely changing. They’re kind of (saying), ‘No, you did okay.’” 

Once a year for about 20 years, Dave said he fully embodies the Willy Wonka role, donning a purple suit and hat for a “golden ticket” contest at Knoke’s. 

For the contest, he said the store sells specially wrapped chocolate bars, putting out 500 a week – one of which contains the golden ticket – for four consecutive weeks. 

The four winners, Dave said, get to enjoy a special day as a chocolatier. 

As most of his days are now spent at the production facility and not the store, he said it’s a great chance to be with customers. 

“What I do miss – since 2014-15 – I’m not downtown as much anymore, so people always ask, ‘Where’s Dave at?’” he said, “because they knew me years ago when I was always there, and they could see me making things.” 

To restore some of that connection, as well as demonstrate the small-batch processing, Dave said video from the production facility is now shown on a television in the Knoke’s store. 

The ongoing search for inspiration and accommodation has not gone unnoticed, as Dave said the store was recently named the 2024 Small Business of the Year by the St. Croix Economic Development Corporation. 

“Yes, it snowballed pretty good from a little store to where I’m at now,” he said. 

Now 60, Dave said he’s gotten to see children come into the store whose parents used to shop there as kids. 

His persistent work ethic from his farming background, he said, maintains his “get up and do it every day” mindset, though he increasingly cherishes his time with his wife, their children and grandchildren. 

“I’m okay working for another 10 years,” he said. “It’s just that plan of ‘how do I get this business in the best possible shape for someone to take over?’ … It’s kind of a (multiple-)step process. I try to take good care of myself, because I wouldn’t mind being 70 and still kind of being involved. If you’re a farmer, you know the old farmers always want to tinker around and check out what’s going on every day. So, I probably still have that mentality.” 

Above all, Dave said he’s grateful to be in a position to even want to continue working as his friends have begun to retire. 

“I could have been selling widgets or doing something else,” he said, “but, hey, this is what I chose – the kind of path I decided to go down.” 

Dave said he thanks the loyal customers for making Knoke’s as viable as it is enjoyable. 

“They didn’t have to come in and buy from me,” he said. “We still emphasize that today: people come in here to buy a box of chocolate, because it’s a kind of event or it’s a social thing after dinner. People come in with their kids and they get ice cream and buy stuff. They could just go home, or they could go someplace else. So, thank you for standing by me.” 

For more information on Knoke’s Chocolate and Nuts, visit the website or find it on social media.