Camp Point couple buys Shake Shack, plans to keep it open year-round and add coffees, lotus drinks

CAMP POINT, Ill. — Kimberly Kestner’s parents, Kenny and Angie Volk, are the owners of the Tastee Treat in Mount Sterling, a popular stop on U.S. 24 to get a burger, shake or sundae since the 1950s.

When Kimberly and her husband, Austin, learned of the opportunity to buy the Shake Shack in Camp Point, they were quick to respond and start their own fast-food business.

“The Shake Shack is just a staple here in Camp Point,” Kimberly said. “We always thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to own that and keep it going?’”

Now the Kestners will get their chance.

They are the managers of Kestner Properties, LLC, which bought the restaurant at 313 E. Wood in Camp Point from Sue Himelick of Camp Point for $200,000 on Dec. 28, according to property tax documents filed in the Adams County Recorder’s Office.

“I’ve seen my parents carry on the Tastee Treat forever,” Kimberly said. “We want to make the Shake Shack the Tastee Treat of Camp Point.”

“I’m heavily involved with a lot of different things around Camp Point,” said Austin, who is an assistant branch manager at Bank of Advance in Bowen. “We’d like to help keep the local businesses up and going, and Himelick was ready to retire. It just so happened we ran into her at the right time, and the sale just worked. It all just kind of fell together.”

The Shake Shack was established during the 1980s. It has only been opening during the summer months in recent years. The Kestners plan to have it open year-round starting in March. They also hope to add to the Shake Shack’s menu by offering a line of coffees, lotus drinks and Italian sodas available at the Drink Shop, which the Kestners opened next door to the Tastee Treat a year and a half ago.

“I’ve been in and out of helping my mom, who has been in fast food her whole life,” Kimberly said. “When they bought the Tastee Treat, I naturally was helping do that. I also was helping her starting at age 14.”

The rest of the menu at the Shake Shack is still to be determined, but the Kestners plan to keep the chili dogs and wraps that have been popular.

Another promotion the Kestners will implement at the Shake Shack will be donations of the percentage of their sales to local foundations and charities. 

“My daughter, who’s 2½, had open heart surgery at five months old,” Kimberly said. “We just give back to these charities and stuff. (At the Drink Shop) there was a girl who had juvenile diabetes, so we focused on raising money for her for a month. We want to try to use the restaurant as an outlet for stuff like that.”