|
|
|
Roger Sales has decided to use his background in design and retail to resurrect the candy shop his mother and aunt once ran.
He has brought back Graces' Fine Handcrafted Candy to the former Vitale’s Italian Ice’s shop in the Greentree Village Center off Del. Route 8. The candy display is in the front of the new shop while he kept Vitale’s water ice and ice cream in the back.
His shop is the one with the giant ice cream cone in front.
The first Graces’ was off Del. Route 40 opened upstate in the late 1980s and once attracted customers from the Tri-State area. It was run by Sales’ mother, Ina, and her twin sister, Irene Slaughter. They opened their shop after family members, friends, co-workers of their husbands and schoolmates of their children raved about their peanut butter and coconut, chocolate candies.
Sales’ mother and his aunt closed their shop in 2005.
Sales knew in his gut that it was time to bring the shop back. He opened up in early February.
“My brother and I were talking on the phone and he said you’d be crazy if you don’t push this,” Sales said. “This is a killer recipe. We don’t want to go to our graves knowing we didn’t try this.”
After Sales obtained his Bachelor Fine Arts from Center for Creative Studies in Detroit, he embarked on a seven-year career in a graphics designer for companies in Florida and Southern California. He also spent a combined 10 years with Macy’s in Orange County, Cal., Chicago and Dover.
He also battled back from a stroke in 1996, which left him learning how to design with his left hand instead of his right.
The impetus for his new business came from the recipes and designs of his mother and his aunt, respectively. He called it “the genius” that comes from experimenting in the kitchen to create handcrafted, fresh candies.
And Sales had no problem on the creative side, designing his logo and new signs for the shop.
But he sought help on developing a business plan from the Delaware Department of Labor’s Division of Vocational Rehabilitation to get his bearings. A state counselor helped him to develop a business plan and to learn budgeting.
Sales is subleasing his shop from Vitale’s until June, when the lease will be in his name. Vitale’s will continue to supply Sales’ ice cream and Italian ice.
And Sales plans to establish a website presence for his business, including overtures to Facebook and Twitter.
Roger Sales has decided to use his background in design and retail to resurrect the candy shop his mother and aunt once ran.
He has brought back Graces' Fine Handcrafted Candy to the former Vitale’s Italian Ice’s shop in the Greentree Village Center off Del. Route 8. The candy display is in the front of the new shop while he kept Vitale’s water ice and ice cream in the back.
His shop is the one with the giant ice cream cone in front.
The first Graces’ was off Del. Route 40 opened upstate in the late 1980s and once attracted customers from the Tri-State area. It was run by Sales’ mother, Ina, and her twin sister, Irene Slaughter. They opened their shop after family members, friends, co-workers of their husbands and schoolmates of their children raved about their peanut butter and coconut, chocolate candies.
Sales’ mother and his aunt closed their shop in 2005.
Sales knew in his gut that it was time to bring the shop back. He opened up in early February.
“My brother and I were talking on the phone and he said you’d be crazy if you don’t push this,” Sales said. “This is a killer recipe. We don’t want to go to our graves knowing we didn’t try this.”
After Sales obtained his Bachelor Fine Arts from Center for Creative Studies in Detroit, he embarked on a seven-year career in a graphics designer for companies in Florida and Southern California. He also spent a combined 10 years with Macy’s in Orange County, Cal., Chicago and Dover.
He also battled back from a stroke in 1996, which left him learning how to design with his left hand instead of his right.
The impetus for his new business came from the recipes and designs of his mother and his aunt, respectively. He called it “the genius” that comes from experimenting in the kitchen to create handcrafted, fresh candies.
And Sales had no problem on the creative side, designing his logo and new signs for the shop.
But he sought help on developing a business plan from the Delaware Department of Labor’s Division of Vocational Rehabilitation to get his bearings. A state counselor helped him to develop a business plan and to learn budgeting.
Sales is subleasing his shop from Vitale’s until June, when the lease will be in his name. Vitale’s will continue to supply Sales’ ice cream and Italian ice.
And Sales plans to establish a website presence for his business, including overtures to Facebook and Twitter.
He is not accounting for his labor right now as a way to keep costs down at the outset. He has tweaked and improvised some of the recipes while keeping such favorites as peanut butter and coconut.
With Easter approaching, he will change the shape of his candies to 3-ounce eggs.
“It’s worked out pretty good so far,” Sales said. “It’s all coming together.”
Ina Sales said she has prayed that her son would succeed.
“I’m going to let him succeed or bust,” she said. “He had it rough when he was sick. So, the least I could do is help him. He loves his candy.”
