Mother, daughter open candy franchise together.
Candy Bouquet at 566 E. Bay Ave. offers a unique alternative to traditional flower bouquets — pure chocolate.
Karen Voskanyan was looking for business opportunities on the Internet. Candy Bouquet came up, and she said, “I love this.”
The next step was recruiting her mother, Frances Carney.
“She asked if I would go in business with her,” Carney said, “and when I looked into it, I thought, what a clever idea — I’m yours.”
So in October, Voskanyan and Carney opened Candy Bouquet, with Carney operating the store and Voskanyan working at night to fill the orders.
They had to visit the franchise headquarters in Little Rock, Ark., to learn more about the business.
“We went for training that was very intense for five days,” Carney said. “We knew nothing about how to assemble the bouquets, especially on how to wrap each candy.”
Each bouquet is filled with gourmet candy and chocolate from around the world with unique, colorful and fun accessories to create one-of-kind gifts.
“We wrap each candy on a stem, and it creates a bouquet,” Carney said.
The tedious process takes about three hours for one bouquet.
“I love creating,” Carney said. “I can look at a picture that Candy Bouquet recommends us to do, and I can do that, but I’d rather just do it on my own.”
One of the most popular items is the candy-bar cake. With 16 assorted chocolate bars and gourmet candies, it’s the best buy for a chocolate lover.
“We never know what to expect for each holiday and normally we sell out each holiday,” Carney said. “We have to prepare well in advance.”
Candy Bouquet gets a lot of last-minute gift shoppers.
“People will come in and want to buy right off the shelf,” Carney said. “Some will order ahead of time, but very few.”
There are bouquets for every occasion.
“For Father’s Day we came up with a casino-themed and golf-themed bouquets,” said Carney.
Floral bouquets are also available with roses made out of solid chocolate. To celebrate a recent birth, wooden storks are available to rent or buy with a basket of goodies including cigars — chocolate cigars, of course.
And if you just want to pick up a some candy for yourself, you can purchase it by the pound, half-pound or by the piece.
Candy Bouquet is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. Delivery and shipping are also available.
By NANCY HUNTER for the Ocean County Observer