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BUSINESS
Local flower shop opens Candy Bouquet franchise
Patty Willems is the owner of Huntington Floral at 219 4th Ave., in Huntington. Willems has recently added a candy basket business called Candy Bouquet.
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HUNTINGTON -- If you're looking for a unique or unusual gift, a local flower shop is offering some of the sweetest surprises in town. Huntington Floral, a longtime fixture in Huntington, recently opened a Candy Bouquet franchise.
"Because of the recession, people are just looking to buy something different from your average flower bouquet," said Patty J. Willems, owner of Huntington Floral.
Since acquiring the Candy Bouquet franchise in March, Willems has undertaken training at headquarters in Little Rock, Ark., to learn how to make candy bouquets, incorporating ribbon, chocolates, hard candy, flower sprigs and many other embellishments.
The candy bouquets come in every shape and size for any occasion or price range. For Mother's Day, Willems put together bouquets perfect for impressing Mom on her special day. Smaller Mother's Day bouquets include candy in delicate painted teacups, while larger ones included gardening gear or a birdhouse.
Candy bouquets are also a way to say "thank you" or to celebrate a birthday. The "Thanks A Million" bouquet sports a box printed with money, chocolate gold coins and other money embellishments. The "Happy Birthday" bouquet offers a variety of surprises, such as colorful lollipops, assorted hard candy pieces and "happy birthday" gourmet cookies.
Smaller pieces include mugs filled with candy pieces, which are then wrapped in a bag also filled with candy. Willems also will decorate personalized mugs brought to her by customers or companies.
"People are really excited about our candy bouquets; the candy is fantastic," said Willems.
Each candy piece placed in the Candy Bouquets is created by the Candy Bouquet company. The specialty chocolates, candy bars, hard candy and cookies made by Candy Bouquet are top-line products, Willems said, and can include sugar-free candy. Though the bouquets automatically come with the Candy Bouquet candy, Willems occasionally throws in commercial favorites such as Reese's Cups or Kit Kat bars.
Huntington Floral has also used the Candy Bouquet franchise for fundraisers. The signature chocolate bars can be purchased for any organization. The bars come in six flavors: milk chocolate peanut butter, milk chocolate caramel, milk chocolate with almonds, milk chocolate crisp, milk chocolate and dark chocolate.
"If there's one thing I've discovered it's that chocolates are recession-proof," said Willems.
Prices for a Candy Bouquet begin at $15, with one example at that price the "Soda Fountain" cup, which sports 100 pieces of candy. The bouquets can be embellished to any size the customer wants for a wide range of prices.
"For the size of our bouquets, the prices are very competitive," said Ken A. Willems, Pattie's husband and partner in Huntington Floral.
Willems began the Candy Bouquet line after losing profits on her traditional flower bouquets. During Valentine's Day, customers were looking for something different and had asked for candy bouquets. Ken said that Patty carefully researched another avenue to make Huntington Floral more current.
"Candy Bouquets was number 71 on Fortune 500's top franchises to own and I decided to take a chance on acquiring my own," Patty said.
Huntington Floral is located at 219 4th Ave., and its Web site is www.candy bouquet.com. The store also can be reached at 304-523-9463. Customers can also ask about shipping if interested in sending a bouquet to a different state.
