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SATURDAY FEBRUARY 12 | SUNDAY FEBRUARY 13 2022
SUNDAY BREAKFAST
Upscale Rummage continues to climb the philanthropy ranks behind founder Renee Baldwin P26
WEEKEND WEATHER
Saturday, Partly cloudy, high 21 Saturday night, Partly cloudy, low 5 Sunday, Partly cloudy, high 20
NORTH SHORE FOODIE
The Aviation cocktail is a liquid love letter P24 FOLLOW US:
NO. 487 | A JWC MEDIA PUBLICATION
CANDY LAND SUSIE RISKIND THOMPSON’S NEW ONLINE CANDY SHOP, SUSIE’S SUGAR BUZZ, OFFERS CHEWABLE DELIGHTS IN ALL SHAPES AND SIZES AND PERSONALLY PACKAGED FOR EVERY OCCASION. BY MITCH HURST
she experienced some burnout and decided to take a few years off to raise her young children. Then, as often happens in life, she— somewhat serendipitously—embarked on an entirely new career. “We were in the city for 23 years and we moved to Wilmette last year, which I love,” she says. “My brother lives in Florida and his neighbor puts together these candy boxes and he and my sisterin-law called
THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND
Like many of us, Susie Riskind Thompson was born with a healthy sweet tooth. When she was growing up in Highland Park, she would often go out to fine restaurants with her parents and grandparents and while the appetizers and entrees were top notch, it was the desserts that caught her attention. “I've always been obsessed with food, and I grew up in a real food family. I loved going out to eat,” she says. “We would really just celebrate as a family and eat together, and I always loved dessert, as every child does.” After attending the University of Arizona and working as a reporter for a time in Colorado, Riskind Thompson returned to Chicago to work for a public relations firm, “I'm kind of a people person and a friend of mine suggested I should try public relations, so I applied for a job, and I got it,” she says. “My first clients were Potbelly and Le Colonial, which is a restaurant in the city.” Having been “thrown” into restaurant PR, Riskind Thompson eventually opened her own firm representing some of the best restaurants in the city and on the North Shore, including Miramar in Highwood. Her largest client was the Shaw’s Crab House division of the Lettuce Entertain You Restaurant Group. But after 15 years and having two sons,
Susie Riskind Thompson opened her online candy shop, Susie’s Sugar Buzz, last year. She sources gummies from companies around the country and Europe to create custom, colorful collections for every occasion.
me and told me I should check them out. They said it might be a cool thing to do on the North Shore.” Soon Riskind Thompson had a new friend in Florida, and a mentor. With the specter of COVID-19 clouding the air, she thought it Continued on PG 10