A new sweets shop is set to open its doors in downtown Columbia next week. Kilwins, the confectionery and ice cream brand that has been in business since 1947, will open a new location at 27 Public Square on Monday, October 12, 2026.
According to Williamson Source, Kilwins announced the Columbia opening date on social media, telling followers, “We can’t wait to greet our guests and share the sweetness.” The brand is known for handcrafted chocolates, fudge, caramel apples and ice cream, and its shops typically carry Mackinac Island Fudge, Original Recipe Ice Cream, chocolate-dipped treats and caramel corn, according to kilwins.com.
A Family Business Already Rooted in Middle Tennessee
The Columbia store will join two other Kilwins locations already serving the region: one at 405 Main Street in downtown Franklin and another at 299 Demonbreun Street in downtown Nashville, per the same Williamson Source report. Those shops are run by local franchisees Ashley and Landon Clark, a husband-and-wife team that operates Kilwins stores across the region, according to whatnow.com.
The Clarks opened their first Kilwins store in Franklin in 2021, whatnow.com reports, and that Franklin shop first opened its doors in July 2014, according to downtownfranklintn.com. The Nashville location on Demonbreun Street opened in August 2024, whatnow.com notes. That Nashville shop sells chocolates, fudge, ice cream, milkshakes, caramel apples, popcorn, brittles, pralines and chocolate strawberries, per the outlet's report.
Part of a Bigger Growth Push
The Clarks previously said their goal was to open several Kilwins locations in Nashville rather than stop at one, whatnow.com reported, and the Columbia opening fits a pattern of regional growth for the brand. Downtownfranklintn.com notes that Landon and Ashley Clark own and operate six Kilwins stores altogether, while whatnow.com reports the pair currently operate five Kilwins locations in North Carolina.
The expansion in Middle Tennessee mirrors a broader surge for the chain nationally. Kilwins opened multiple new stores in Georgia, Texas and Tennessee over the past year, according to kilwinsfranchise.com. Reported company-wide totals vary slightly by source: kilwinsfranchise.com says the brand opened 19 new locations and signed 31 new franchise agreements in 2025, bringing it to over 185 locations across 29 states, while qsrmagazine.com put the 2025 year-end count at 187 stores across 29 states after the same 19 openings and 31 new franchise agreements.
What's Next for the Brand
Qsrmagazine.com also reported that Kilwins opened nine new locations in the final three months of 2025 alone, and the brand is eyeing further growth into 2026, including an expected opening in Austin's East Village and a planned smaller-footprint store model meant to support expansion into new markets. The outlet reported that Kilwins has identified three sites and begun 10 additional site searches across Texas as part of that push.
For now, the focus in Middle Tennessee is on Columbia, where the new storefront at 27 Public Square is set to welcome its first customers Monday, joining the Clarks' growing roster of Kilwins shops across Franklin and Nashville.
