Published: February 12, 2008 08:00 pm      

Celebrating a love of chocolate

Valentine’s Day is synonymous with heart-shaped boxes

FAIRMONT — Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and millions around the country have been buying that tasty treat that is synonymous with the holiday — chocolate.

Area businesses have been gearing up for Valentine’s Day for weeks. Store shelves have been filled with a savory selection of chocolates, and one local business owner is actually striving to help keep those shelves stocked with all kinds of Valentine’s Day goodies. Barbara Ware, owner of LBJ’s Candies, Cookies-N-More has been making chocolates for sale for approximately a year.

Ware makes a variety of sweets all through the year, but Valentine’s Day is an extremely busy season. Ware makes everything from chocolate covered strawberries to chocolate pizza in her home-based businesses for Valentine’s Day. She also makes custom gift baskets for the holiday as well.

“And I do rose-shaped suckers and put them in a vase,” Ware said. “Those are big sellers, too.”

Ware does deliver items to customers. However, her wares are also available at the Red Dot Pharmacy in Mannington.

Other chocolate treats are also available at Red Dot Pharmacy, including Russell Stover candies, said Tonya Lodge, pharmacy technician. However, she added that LBJ’s chocolates are definitely a more popular item.

“Her chocolate looks good, and it tastes good, too,” Lodge said of Ware’s candies.

Diane’s Hallmark at the Middletown Mall has also stocked its shelves with a variety of chocolate and various other Valentine’s Day items. However, the quantity of chocolate sold drastically increases around Valentine’s Day, said store manager Regina Humphrey. The most popular chocolate sold at the store is probably Sarris Candies, Humphrey added.

“It’s my favorite,” Humphrey said about Sarris Candies. “I’ve been working here for three years, and everyone just gushes about it.”

“It’s really a quality chocolate,” she added.

Sarris Candies is a business out of Canonsburg, Pa., which is right outside of Pittsburgh. The company sells a wide variety of chocolate, including the more traditional milk chocolate and dark variety, Humphrey said.

“We also sell a lot of Russell Stover,” she said. “Everyone recognizes that brand.”

“Plus they’re a very good chocolate, and it’s very economical, too,” she said.

She said that Russell Stover also has the chocolate-covered truffles available, which are extremely popular. Humphrey added that Diane’s Hallmark also sells chocolate-covered pretzels, which are a hot item throughout the year.

Cracker Barrel near the mall also sells several different types of chocolate, some in the more traditional, nostalgic wrappers. The store also sells a 5-pound chocolate Hershey’s bar, said Kathy Islam, retail manager at the restaurant.

“And we have chocolate roses that we’ll put into a bouquet,” Islam said.

She added that Hershey’s chocolate seems to be the most popular candy sold at the restaurant. She went on to say the chocolate’s popularity may have something to do with the nostalgic wrappers.

“A lot of the Hershey’s candy is candy from someone’s childhood,” Islam said.

Local Shop ’N Save stores also have an abundance of chocolate and other Valentine’s Day treats available. Hershey’s Kisses and M&Ms seem to be the most popular items sold this Valentine’s Day at the Country Club drive location, said Mike Yost, assistant manager.

“We seem to sell them (Hershey’s Kisses and M&Ms) the most, probably because people are buying them for the kids,” Yost said.

Numerous different types of chocolate candy are also available at Rider Pharmacy. The pharmacy carries Sarris as well as Russell Stover chocolates. But the store also has Candies by Linda, a chocolate company that operates out of Buckhannon, said Cam Pyle, Rider Pharmacy store manager.

“She does a lot of different specialty candies,” Pyle said.

Pyle added that Candies by Linda provides chocolate treats in various shapes such as the flying WV. She also makes chocolate lips and hearts as well, Pyle said.

Rider Pharmacy also offers Russell Stover and Redstone chocolate for Valentine’s Day. Pyle that he believes men normally procrastinate when it comes to buying gifts for the holiday. Therefore he expects a rush on chocolate in the next 24 hours.

Carol Hoffman, owner of the Rivesville Pharmacy, also said that her business will most likely see a lot of candy and card shoppers in the last few hours before Valentine’s Day. Chocolates such as Sarris and Russell Stover are available at the local pharmacy. She said that Sarris seems to be the more popular chocolate sold at the pharmacy.

“It’s an excellent quality chocolate, and it’s not that pricey,” she said.

Hoffman said that she not only likes the taste of Sarris chocolate, she also the fact that Sarris is a family-owned business. She added that she also likes the fact that Sarris is made close to West Virginia.

There are also chocolates available for those who are on restrictive diets. American Pharmacy on Fairmont Avenue has gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, according to Eric Atchinson, marketing director at the pharmacy. He added that the store also offers organic chocolate-mint cookies as well.

E-mail Paul Fallon at pfallon@timeswv.com.