Business is poppin’

MT. PLEASANT — A new business with family roots, LGTBQA+ pride, and delicious treats has popped up in Mt. Pleasant this last year.

The same week as the Old Thresher’s Reunion brought Big River Popcorn Company to downtown Mt. Pleasant, but the business itself is not particularly new.

Cody and Greg Flietner have run Big River Popcorn Company from Burlington since July 2016 and the business itself first began in 1974.

Greg’s grandfather Robert Moehlman founded the business and created the most popular popcorn flavor to this date.

“Caramel out beats every flavor,” Greg said of the made from scratch original recipe Caramel corn. “I don’t know that I could create a flavor more popular than this caramel.”

Surprisingly, Greg did not know about his family’s popcorn origins until well into high school.

“My dad always had popcorn every night,” Greg said, but he had not heard of the business until he came across the new owner’s popcorn supplied at his high school.

The Flietners have made the business their own with a whopping 25 to 28 flavors available at any given time and an overall total of approximately 35.

Greg says he spends much of his downtime experimenting and creating new flavors, but his favorite has always been the classic, butter popcorn.

Some of the flavors Greg has created include special holiday editions like Lucky Charms for St. Patrick’s day, Ho Ho Ho and White Chocolate Peppermint for Christmas, and Pumpkin Pie Spice for Thanksgiving.

The unique shop with tasty treats chose to expand to the Mt. Pleasant area due to the support they have seen for small businesses in the area.

“Working in this community for almost three years now, I took notice as to how much this community wholeheartedly takes care of one another and supports local business,” co-owner Cody Flietner said. “These kindled business relationships I've made in this town really sealed the deal to have Greg [owner] and Big River Popcorn here in Mt. Pleasant.”

“The community has been very supportive up here,” Greg said. “Mt. Pleasant supports its small businesses because they know how important small businesses are to small towns.”

Big River Popcorn has integrated into the community well as they choose to participate in Main Street Mt. Pleasant activities and find ways to give back to both of the communities they’ve come to love.

This past year, the Flietners have enjoyed serving seltzers and homemade Paloma for Cinco De Mayo, offering Bent River Brewing Company Beer for the ‘Saving of the Green Beer Walk,’ and providing a pride-inspired rainbow popcorn mix at a ‘Pride in the Park’ event.

The company has also made it a priority to partner with local nonprofits for fundraising efforts.

Much like the Boy Scout popcorn fundraisers, Big River Popcorn gives sports teams, schools, churches, and kids camps the opportunity to sell the locally made product to raise funds.

Greg hopes to do more fundraising with the Mt. Pleasant community as one of his favorite things has been supporting communities like the Danville school.

“It is a good feeling to cut a check for a small school of 10 to 20 thousand dollars,” Greg said.

As the business continues to grow in the Mt. Pleasant area the Flietners are excited to continue adding product to their store front on North Main Street.

In addition to their popcorn products, the store has recently added in-house-spun-cotton-candy and candles created by Greg’s very own mother.

“I felt that it was important for Greg to bring this unique shop of his to the Mt. Pleasant Business District and Community,” Cody said.

With the support garnered from the patronage of the community, it appears to have been well-received.

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com