Tuesday, November 22, 2011

A cute, sneaky, customer story


Editor's note: Here at the candy store in Richmond, Illinois we get hundreds of emails, phone calls and letters each year from costumers who give us a little snapshot into what happens to our candies once they leave 10301 Main Street.

It is these stories that brighten our day and inspire us to continue to produce candy like the generations before us always did.

In this post I'll share a few examples of the kind of feedback we get.


The smiling woman in the photo below is the owner of Toom Toom Thai restaurant in Elgin, Illinois. She posted a photo of herself smiling with a box of our candies after she received the treats as a Thank-You gift from a customer.

To see another particularly cute upload visit our Facebook page. (You'll find an adorable young customer in Colorado enjoying a chocolate Easter bunny.)

During the past year, in fact, Facebook has become one of our favorite ways receive feedback. To round out this post, I'll share with you what is probably my favorite Facebook share this year.

The story is from a customer who has enjoyed Anderson's Candy since her childhood in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

Her name is Amanda Glauser Schneegass and she wrote to us this fall about her sneaky 80-year-old father.

"My Dad received two, one-pound boxes of your candy for his Birthday from me last week," she said.

"He lives in Michigan and called to say he shared the first box with my Step-Mom, BUT he has 'stashed' the second box in his sock drawer." Amanda continued. "She doesn't know about this box and I don't think he will be sharing this with her."

Amanda later wrote that her father is very, "bipartisan" when it comes to his favorite candies.

It turns out that he grew up in Ringwood, Illinois and got married to my Amanda's mom in 1956.

The couple had two daughters lived in Crystal Lake for 32 years before retiring to Michigan.

"I'm not sure exactly when he was first introduced to Anderson's Candy, BUT, I remember him driving us to your shop when it was just the one room store front when we were very young," Amanda wrote.

"It was a treat for us and we were thrilled getting to pick a BIG piece of candy for each of us," she said.

In case it wasn't clear from this post, we LOVE feedback! Share your stories with us in the comments section below or email AndersonsCandyShop@gmail.com.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Resisting temptation


When people find out that I am part of a family that has been making chocolate candies for four generations, they always ask some version of, "Do you ever get sick of the chocolate?"

The answer is NEVER.

I have been sneaking, snacking and gorging myself on our candy since I was a little girl.

In fact, it is actually hard for me to understand when customers tell us that they can make a box of our candy last a whole month in their house.

Not because it won't stay fresh that long, but because I would simply devour all of it right away.

When I am at the candy shop in Richmond, I frequently "taste test" a few pieces of candy while working. All of our employees are actually encouraged to do this from time to time in order to ensure quality.

Recently however, my ability to use restrain when it comes to eating our chocolate has been tested – at home.

I brought home to my sweetie (pictured with me above) a six-piece box of his favorite candies.

Four days ago, there were three milk chocolate Buttered Rum Truffles and three milk-chocolate-covered cherries.

Today, there are two Buttered Rum Truffles and two chocolate-covered cherry pieces still left in the box!

While I know I should be happy that he is choosing to savor his favorite candies, I can't help but be a bit annoyed by the sweet, rich treats that he is leaving out to taunt me each morning.

Recently on our candy shop Facebook page, we heard a delightful story from a woman who's father is a candy saver, too.

In our next post, we'll share her story. It warmed our hearts and gave us a chuckle and we hope you like it, too!

And, as always, if you've got a question for the family or an Anderson's Candy Shop story of your own to share, post a comment below or email me, Katie Anderson, at AndersonsCandyShop@gmail.com.