| Penzeys Spices | The Spice House | |
|---|---|---|
| founded | 1986 | 1957 |
| founders | Bill Penzey (son of William Sr. and Ruth) | William Penzey Sr. and Ruth Ann Penzey |
| subsequent owners | - | Patty Erd (Bill Penzey's sister) and Tom Erd, took over in 1992
Dave Grossman and Dan Yates, took over in 2018 |
| physical stores | 49 stores throughout the US | 4 stores in Illinois and Wisconsin |
| similarities | They are often described as competitors of each other, with spices of a similar range and quality. | |
| differences | vocally anti-Republican | officially apolitical |
Articles about the relationship between the two:
… That isn’t sitting well with Patty Erd, Bill’s older sister and the owner of The Spice House, which has two retail spice stores in Evanston and Milwaukee. “I actually feel terrible about it,” Erd said this week. “My brother has an $8 million-a-year business, and we have two little stores. It was kind of an unspoken agreement he would stay away from Chicago.” Penzey, who acknowledges that his sister isn’t very happy with him right now, says there never was an agreement. The Chicago area is a logical spot for a Penzeys store because the company has 7,000 mail-order customers in the area, he said.
… Many shoppers actually think The Spice House and Penzeys are parts of the same operation. That’s no surprise. The Spice House gave out Penzeys catalogs for the first few years the Evanston store was open. And the two share some spice blends that were developed by Bill and Patty’s father.
Brother and sister aren’t talking right now, according to Erd. But Bill doesn’t think his expansion plans will permanently jeopardize their relationship. “She’s my sister,” he says, “and I love her.”