Oh, sugar

For stores that sell candy, business is sweet - and bustling - at this time of year.

By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 7, 2003

[Times photos: Skip O'Rourke]
With Valentine's Day coming, these chocolate pandas may not wait long to take their place in an arrangement at Candy Bouquet. The store on Cortaro Drive in Sun City Center opened about 18 months ago.

SUN CITY CENTER -- A rose is just a rose -- unless it's actually a Hershey's Kiss or a chocolate-covered cherry, wrapped in red crepe paper, tied to a wire stem and decorated with ribbon.

Bonnie Fortin and her co-workers at Candy Bouquet on Cortaro Drive will make dozens of those edible roses over the next week, as sweethearts, long-married couples and pining fellas express their adoration with colorful "bouquets" of chocolate, candy bars, cookies and candies.

"Whatever you want, we'll put it in a bouquet," promises owner Michele Fuller, who opened Candy Bouquet about 18 months ago. "And these bouquets don't die!"

From Brandon to Sun City Center, businesses that cater to sweet tooths and romantics are hustling to fill orders in time for Valentine's Day -- one of their busiest holidays. Industry figures show that the average American eats 12 pounds of chocolate a year, a substantial portion of which is likely to be consumed over the next week or so.

"This is like a three- to four-day thing that's total insanity," said Barbara Susalla, owner of Morrow's Fine Candy & Nuts at Westfield Shoppingtown Brandon. "Because everybody likes to customize their own gift. So you name it, we make it. But it's a lot of work."

Southeastern Hillsborough is surprisingly short on "mom and pop" businesses that make their own chocolates from scratch. Still, there are plenty of local Valentine's Day options by national franchises, from the reliable decadence of Godiva's truffles to the quirky creativity of Candy Bouquet's sugary arrangements.

Morrow's, which opened in May, offers everything from chocolate-covered strawberries and pretzels (dipped by Susalla herself), to a 6-pound box of custom-picked assorted chocolates that will set Romeo back $150.

Don't love her that much? Frugal suitors can get away with a quarter-pound box for $5.99.

Susalla said her most popular items are the ones with a masculine touch, like the heart-shaped candy boxes with tops made to look like an Oxford shirt and tie.

A few steps away at Godiva Chocolatier, the Valentine's Day chocolate assortments offer lucky romantics the chance to win a pair of BMW Z4 roadsters or one of 50 spa vacations for two at the Marriott Camelback Inn.

Godiva offers a 13-ounce, 30-piece, satin and velvet heart box filled with milk, dark and ivory morsels. Cost? $60. Super-size it to 50 pieces for $135 -- a small price to pay for love.

On Tuesday, employees were busy dipping big strawberries in a vat of glossy melted chocolate, trying to keep up with demand for one of Godiva's most popular Valentine's Day items.

All that chocolate might not be good for the waistline, but scientists say it contains phenylethylamine, the same chemical produced in our brains when we fall in love and get all giddy.

Research from the American Association for the Advancement of Science suggests there are natural antioxidants in cocoa and chocolate that reduce the risk of heart problems.

"Whatever you want, we'll put it in a bouquet," says Candy Bouquet owner Michele Fuller. Baskets full of sweets offer gift-givers some colorful options.

Not in the mood for chocolate?

Sweets From Heaven, a bulk candy store at the mall, has a corner devoted to Valentine's sweets: Red Hots, Hot Tamales, conversation hearts, sweet and sour hearts, red and white Jordan almonds, chocolate lollipops, even heart-shaped Pez dispensers.

For about $8, customers can fill a ribbon-bound container with a pound of candy. Or buy 11/2 pounds of Jelly Belly beans, in 50 flavors, for $22.99.

Kim Avery, district manager for Sweets From Heaven, which has locations across the country and as far away as South Africa, expects her business to peak a day or two before Valentine's Day.

"It tends to be a somewhat spontaneous holiday, I've found," she said. Especially, she said, because a good percentage of her customers are teens and twenty-somethings whose romances can be so fleeting.

Melanie Kossow, owner of the Chestnut Tree in La Viva Plaza in Brandon, will make about 100 Valentine's baskets, filled with Asher's chocolates and truffles (the same company that supplies Candy Bouquet with their popular orange cream truffles).

A $50 basket includes about 11/2 pounds of assorted chocolates, plus gourmet sauces, jellies, cookies and teas.

For choosier chocolate eaters, Kossow has black forest and tiramisu truffles from Maggie Lyon Chocolatiers in Georgia.

Kossow is a firm believer in the aphrodisiac potential of chocolates. Outside her front door, posted on a chalkboard, is her motto for the buss-filled season:

"Have you seen the movie Chocolat? Do you need a better reason to buy your Valentine some chocolates?"

-- Staff writer Susan Thurston contributed to this report. Reach Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler at 661-2426 or svansickler@sptimes.com.