PAGE 10 • February 2022
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Business of Interest by Nancy Roberts
The Speach Family Candy Shoppe “One of my favorite stories about Valentine’s Day and chocolates,” Michael Speach told me, “was about a special offer we had on our highly decorative and unique heart boxes. If a customer brought one back in, as long as it was in good condition and it had our label on it – we’d refill it with the items they chose to buy the next year, and the year after that. We had one gentleman who came in year after year and got a special assortment to fill that same box. Every year. Well one year, he didn’t show up – but his wife did. He had passed away, but she wanted to keep that tradition going, so she was going to fill that very special box with candy for her kids and grandkids. That’s the kind of thing that keeps us working as hard as we do with Valentine’s Day and Easter coming up – the stories we share with customers. That, and a sense of humor!” I asked Speach if he knew how Valentine’s Day and chocolate came to be so closely associated, and as it turns out, while chocolate and love go all the way back to the Aztecs, it was in 1861 that British chocolatier Richard Cadbury got the brilliant idea to package his chocolates in heart-shaped boxes, decorated with Cupids, frills and bows. The tradition has never gone out of style. But if you want to explore the whole idea of “sweets” and “fun” this holiday, or any holiday,
you owe it to yourself to visit the Speach Family Candy Shoppe. Just a quick stop on the website will give you all you need to know: the company is about delicious, absolutely. But it’s also quite clear that it’s about fun, joy, and sharing some “happy,” especially in a time that’s been a challenge for us all. “When a child comes in the store,” Speach told me, “they just go crazy before they’ve finished looking in the first aisle. But we find that when an adult comes in, they feel young again, too. But it’s more than nostalgia, finding Michael Speach candy from your own childhood, or wanting to try something new. It’s that people want to feel good, have a laugh, or look forward to something.” He explained that a novelty mix – “For the Love of Vinyl Tray” – came out of his staff dedicating Friday’s at work to a little fun, listening to vinyl records to keep things happy and lighten the load, since they were an “essential business” (and candy is definitely essential!) and stayed open throughout the early days of the pandemic. “Now we sell a box that is dedicated to the vinyl lover. Real vinyl records are melted into a candy tray that’s going to make any vinyl collector delighted. They’re available in 45 RPM or 33 1/3 RPM styles, and come with a Speach Family Sweet Studios label that will be unique to every order.” Speach admitted that he gets less and less sleep as February looms ahead, knowing that one of their, if not the biggest candy selling seasons of the year is coming up. “So humor is our way of enjoying the holidays.” This Christmas, the company offered “Snowman Poo,” and it was a hit, so they decided to see what Cupid had to offer. Cupid Poo (“Love Happens”) turns out to be a white chocolate party mix made with cereal, mixed nuts, pretzels, cinnamon, chocolate candies and red hots – and served up by a unique version of Cupid, complete with fluffy wings and a special smile. When you see him, you’ll fall in love! There are molded chocolates in everything from traditional, to absolutely silly, to adult; a delicious assortment of fudge; miniatures; chocolate covered pretzels and chips; and something called a “brickle,” 80 different varieties of the Speach version of chocolate bark – crisp, flavorful, and offered in both beautiful and bubbly styles to suit a special holiday, occasion or gift. If you were to simply meet Michael Speach, or any one of his family or co-workers, you’d think that surely this merry and motley crew created the company. Not so. It’s actually a family affair, having been started by Michael’s great-grandfather, Michele
“We had one gentleman who came in year after year and got a special assortment to fill that same box. Every year.”
