Sweets for the Sweet [VIDEO]

When you walk into on Warren Street this week, you’ll notice right away that there is a holiday coming up. It’s almost Valentine’s Day and many things in the store right now are red – boxes, bows, and candies – all ready for the celebrating.

“Soon, it will be all bunnies,” noted Jeff Bart, whose family has owned and operated the story for nearly 90 years.

Valentine’s Day is probably the busiest single day for sales with the Christmas season being the busiest season. The store sells a couple of thousand Valentine’s Day gift boxes for the holiday, along with “hundreds and hundreds” of chocolate dipped strawberries. The strawberries, which last about 12 hours, need to be ordered in advance, Bart noted. He said that the strawberries are dipped and picked up by the customer on the same day, in order to ensure freshness.

Last-minute sales tend to be the norm, with customers coming in to pick up candy to go with flowers.

“It is the most last-minute holiday that we do,” he said.

One customer is planning on proposing to his girlfriend and asked the store if he could have a heart box made of chocolate to put an engagement ring in. Bart said the store set it all up. They have a mold for the box and instead of putting loose chocolates inside, they put the ring in. The customer plans on giving it to his (hopefully) future bride next week.

“When she opens it up, thinking it is a regular box of chocolate, she’ll take the cover off, and she’ll see the ring,” he said. “It was fun.”

The store also offers loose Valentine candy, like candy hearts and other items.

Business is good

Bart said that despite the down economy, business has been very good. Since summer of last year through today, the numbers have been better than expected. The Christmas season was very busy with a lot of walk-in retail business, “which is always great.”

January, the store’s traditionally slowest month, “has been through the roof,” according to Bart. The store has picked up more wholesale business, including flower shops and other establishments looking to add candy to products for the Valentine's Day holiday.

Corporate orders were also up as compared to the past. Bart suspected that increased spending on the business level could be a sign that the economy is turning around.

During the last few years, since the economic crash, the store has been busier, especially summer ice cream sales. Since more people are tending to stay closer to home, they are shopping locally, Bart said. And if they stay home, they still need things to do.