A Sweet Start for Monrovia Candy Shop Owner

For Pat Fore, life is sweet.

Since the Candy Connection opened its doors in February, Fore has seen a steady stream of new faces, as well as many return customers from her previous shop in downtown Covina.

And Fore's kept them happy--she recently received a gratifying compliment from a customer who tried a slice of chocolate pizza.

"She said when she put it in her mouth it was like tasting love," Fore said.

Glass cases inside Fore’s Candy Connection display rows of homemade chocolate clusters, cups, creams, and haystacks. In addition to the 57 trays of chocolate and 76 jarred candies that are currently offered, Fore also sells 22 kinds of sugar free chocolate and 13 sugar free jarred items, including gummy bears, taffy, malted milk balls, and root beer barrels.

"As a kid I dreamt that when you died and went to heaven, you were surrounded by sweetness. It grew on trees and it fell off of bushes," Fore said.

At home, a sign hangs in her kitchen which reflects her outlook: "Chocolate: A Sweet Taste of Heaven."

The married mother of two originally began making chocolates for friends and family after taking some candy-making classes with another friend. Like her own mother, Fore had worked as a hairdresser and beautician. She loved her profession, but discovered that she was too allergic to the chemicals in the beauty salons to work with them on a regular basis.

Fore was inspired to pursue her confectionary ambitions when she read an article in Entrepreneur magazine on opening up your own business. After attending a Retail Confectioners International convention, she opened up her first candy store in the Berkeley Square Shopping Center in Covina.

Fore said she remembers her first customer was a 9-year-old boy who saw her working on a display of jawbreakers before the shop officially opened. She sold him a jawbreaker on the spot. Later, he brought his mother to the shop, and then she brought the neighbors.

"My whole business is all word of mouth," she said.

Eventually Fore moved her business to a location in downtown Covina. The store thrived there until 2010, when many of the shops had to relocate because of new development. After closing in December, Candy Connection re-opened at it’s Monrovia location on February 12, 2011.

While Fore’s husband, Rod Fore, often makes chocolates in the candy kitchen at the back of the shop, she runs the store and handles the packaging of the product. She converses easily with customers as she weighs candy, wraps chocolates in white boxes, and runs a pair of scissors along ribbon edges to make them curl.

"Business is good," she said.

The shop also stocks coffee mugs, kitchen spoons, measuring cups, gourmet food products, and Webkinz stuffed animals. Candy Connection will host a special Webkinz Road Trip event on July 10^th from 12-3 p.m. The event will feature games, prizes, drawings, and in-store specials.

"I like to say this is the kind of store where there’s always a surprise. We try to always have something new," Fore said.

Candy Connection designs gift baskets for any occasion, and their wedding favors have gone all over the world. Fore said that she’s made bags of red, white, and blue candy for a traveling couple who would add a bag of candy to their tips.

"It’s gone to the Great Wall, to Turkey, to Russia. It’s so much fun!," she said.

In addition to meeting new customers, Fore also enjoys watching the activity of Myrtle Avenue through her shop window in her spare moments.

"Every city is different," she said.

She said that the most requested candies at the store also vary according to location.

"Here in Monrovia, dark chocolate sells extremely well," she said.

Turtles are also very popular.

"We kind of can’t keep them in stock. It’s like we make them every other day," she said.

Other favorites include English toffee bars and dipped marshmallows.

Fore admitted that she goes through her own little phases when it comes to her favorite kind of candy.

"Right now it’s dark cherry cordials," she said.

In the future, Fore said that they plan to begin selling truffles, and she also wants to open a chocolate café. The new café will feature coffee, a chocolate tea, frozen hot chocolate, Italian sodas, and warm chocolate accompanied by a selection of fruits and dipping tidbits.

"I have to say that anybody who comes in here always leaves happy," she said. "It really and truly probably is the sweetest business you could own."