Chocolatier/Floral Business Moving From East Granby To Enfield

ENFIELD, CT — For two decades, residents of Enfield and surrounding towns have bemoaned the closure of Crand's Candy Castle, an institution on Route 5 near the East Windsor line for nearly half a century. Soon, a combination chocolatier/floral business, itself a fixture of several north-central Connecticut towns since 1924, will move into a new location, diagonally across the street from the longtime home of Crand's.

Snelgrove's Chocolatier and Florist, founded in Windsor nearly a century ago as a floral shop which expanded to include chocolates and candymaking in 2001, has purchased the former Northern Nurseries building at 1695 King Street, adjacent to Metro Park North. Town property records indicate the property sold for $220,000.

The last day of operation at 32 Rainbow Road in East Granby will be this Sunday, Oct. 10.

In an exclusive interview with Patch Monday, third-generation owner Tim Snelgrove said the new location is perfect for his business for several reasons, including main road visibility, proximity to Interstate 91 and double the capacity of his current establishment. There is also the nostalgia factor, being so close to the beloved former candy manufacturer.

Snelgrove's has a long, interesting history, starting with its founding in Windsor by Snelgrove's grandfather, Sydney James Snelgrove, prior to the Great Depression. It moved several times within the town before relocating to East Granby in 2015.

Snelgrove himself starting making chocolates around age 11. He became formally involved in the family business in his early twenties following the death of his father.

"My father passed away and some other people were operating the business. because my grandmother was still alive," he said. "She was in her 80s or 90; she lived to 102. It was in a time in my life where I was between careers and they said, 'Can you do this thing for me? Can you do that?' And then next thing I know, I'm reopening it and growing."

Snelgrove opened a location in a big Victorian-style building in the Poquonock section of Windsor, across from Poquonock Elementary School.

"We were there for quite a long time, for years," he said. "Then we moved out of there because the owner was passing away and we moved back into Windsor Center. Then we moved on to Mack Street for a couple of years, and we just outgrew it. I decided at that point to split it into two, and we brought the manufacturing to East Granby and kept another retail outlet in a plaza in Windsor Center where we did all the floral stuff. It didn't do that well there, but I ended up doing really, really well. And then, of course, the pandemic hit."

The coronavirus pandemic which started in March 2020 affected all businesses deemed to be "non-essential." Snelgrove's was no exception.

"We were told we can't keep the flower part open because that wasn't considered essential," Snelgrove said. "Food was considered essential and we were food. We're under food manufacturing, so we got to keep this store open, which had its pros and cons. Obviously people expect you to be able to get everything under the sun."

His passion for the industry helped Snelgrove persevere through difficult times.

"I love the chocolate industry because it's a passion of mine," he said. "I started making chocolates when I was 11 and it kind of blossomed from there. I started selling door to door around that time and I gave it up right around the time I was 15. After I got out of school, I did all that wonderful stuff we do as an adult, and then I opened the flowers back up and then the flowers just weren't surviving by themselves. And I said, 'Well, what can we do?' So that's when we started introducing making chocolates. We started with just making fudges, then making other stuff and more stuff."

About 150 items constitute the core line of the chocolate business, with handmade artisan chocolate made with the finest Belgian chocolate and rich ingredients from around the world.

"Every piece is handmade in our kitchen and packed at our store to create an assortment that includes a unique blend of milk and dark chocolate pieces from almond toffee butter crunch, caramels, sea salt caramels, peanut butter centers, clusters, coconuts, raspberry jelly, lemon, orange and raspberry creams, to name a few," Snelgrove said. "Each piece is drenched in our milk, dark, or white chocolate to create the ultimate assortment, and packaged by hand with love in a custom box tied adorned with a colorful ribbon."

The current building contains just 1,400 square feet, with 412 square feet devoted to retail space.

"We're going to have about double that over the new place," he said. "It's going to be really nice. We're pretty excited about all the changes, and the kitchen is going to be bigger."

In addition to the retail shop, Snelgrove's does considerable business online. "We ship out all over the place constantly, to all of the United States," he said.

Snelgrove hopes the first phase of renovation work at the new site will be completed by early December. He is thrilled to finally own a building, rather than leasing.

"That's the most exciting part about this; I don't have to worry about a landlord passing away like we did in Poquonock or worry about there being pre-existing leases like I did in East Granby," he said. "You try and explain to the customer why you're leaving it. It has nothing to do with how busy you are or how wonderful your stuff is. It has everything to do with things that are outside of your control. And now this is mine, and it's exciting."

More information may be found on Snelgrove's website here.

To register for free Enfield news alerts and more, click here.