'Windy City Weekend': Keke joins Val, Richard Roeper's movie reviews, Popcorn World
CHICAGO (WLS) -- This week on "Windy City Weekend," Ryan is on sports duty out in Houston, but WGCI and KISS FM on-air personality KeKe helped hold it down with Val.
Strippers at the Bulls Game - Appropriate or Not?
A rented suite at the Tuesday night Bulls game had a stripper as entertainment. Was this appropriate or not?
Blac Chyna's new transformation:
Blac Chyna has been making headlines for her decision to transform her life. She's spent the last few weeks removing many of her cosmetic surgery procedures, including lip fillers. She also deleted her OnlyFans account, removed several of her tattoos and was baptized.
Does Staying In Count as a Date?
Would you rather go out to the club for a date, or hang out at home with a romantic movie? This poll asks couples if staying in truly counts as a date.
Baldness and shortness are rising as datable qualities:
For a long time, people joked that going bald and being short were dating turn-offs. But a Dating.com poll says many singles actually see them as pluses.
POPCORN WORLD
Owner and operator of Popcorn World, LeBarron Burton, is not shy about using his diverse palate to come up with more than 250 unique and wild flavors of gourmet popcorn. You already know caramel and cheese popcorn, but what about crab-flavored popcorn? Or pizza- and steak-flavored? Well, Burton's motto is: if it's out there, he'll come up with a popcorn flavor for it.
Popcorn World, which has its flagship location in Gary, Indiana, began as Popcorn Haven in 2008. Two of Burton's childhood friends launched the business when they needed a change in career.
In 2013, Burton, who was working as an I.T. consultant at the time, got a call from those friends to join the popcorn business. After joining, Burton helped them relaunch as Popcorn World and doubled down on branding to go national.
A few years later, his friends decided to sell Burton the business and in 2019, he officially opened the Gary storefront location. Since then, Popcorn World has had massive success.
Being unofficially dubbed "The Disney World of Popcorn," Popcorn World and its crazy popcorn flavors caught the attention of multiple online celebrities, including Casey Neistat, All Def Digital and more. Burton even says after being featured by All Def Digital, they did more than $60,000 in sales in one day.
Some of Popcorn World's flavors include classics like caramel, cheese and cheese-coated caramel. Then they have sweet concoctions such as key lime pie, Oreo cheesecake, banana pudding, Twix, Butterfinger and Lucky Charms. There are also savory flavors like crab, steak, loaded baked potato, pizza and one Burton is working on now, collard greens.
The common statement from his customers is that the popcorn actually tastes like the real flavors.
"I love all the crazy flavors. I try something new every time," said one customer.
Burton's secret is that he uses fresh ingredients in his seasonings. If it's Twix-flavored, he's using actual Twix candy bars. If it's crab-flavored, he's using actual seasonings. He loves being challenged by his customers to come up with new flavors to add to Popcorn World's growing list.
Burton says he owes much of his success to the constant support of his family. His wife, Nina Burton, his five kids and aunt all work in the store to help deliver quality popcorn to the Gary area.
The business is even supported by franchisees across the nation with storefront locations in areas such as Long Beach, California and Las Vegas.
Burton is grateful for the success and widespread reception of Popcorn World, and that he can share that success with Gary, Indiana, which has a predominantly Black population.
"We support and feed the boys and girls basketball team in our school district, give back to the community through food drives and outreach programs and do so much more," Burton said. "That's what being a business in the community is all about. You're helping to support the community."
You can try over 250 flavors of gourmet popcorn by visiting Popcorn World's website at doingtheworldaflavor.com.
SPEND OR SAVE?
'Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves' - SPEND
Based on the popular tabletop game, "Dungeons and Dragon: Honor Among Thieves" has an unlikely group of adventurers banding together to retrieve an ancient relic and save the world.
'Spinning Gold' - SAVE
"Spinning Gold" tells the origins of Casablanca Records, the record label that gave rise to musical giants like Donna Summer, KISS, and The Isley Brothers.
'Tetris' - SPEND
Taron Egerton stars in Apple TV+'s newest flick, about the rise of one of the most popular video games ever, "Tetris".
"Assassin" - SAVE
Bruce Willis stars in his final movie, "Assassin," about a microchip that allows users to inhabit the bodies of other people.
BRUCE WILLIS' TOP FILMS:
Bruce Willis has had a long and successful acting career. With his recent dementia diagnosis, he has decided to retire from the silver screen. Richard Roeper honors Willis' legacy by sharing some of his best performances and movies.
"Die Hard" - 1988
"Pulp Fiction" - 1994
"The Sixth Sense" - 1999
"Unbreakable" - 2000
