MILWAUKEE, WI- It’s a day created to celebrate all things love and romance and even though some tout the holiday as nothing but a commercial holiday made to profit retailers, everyone knows it’s still nice to receive a little something on Valentine’s Day.
One of the most popular gifts to give is chocolate. And no, it’s not old fashioned to give your sweetie a sugary treat according to General Manager of Kehr’s Candies in the Third Ward Callie Mangan. She says business is booming.
“2021, not including when we were closed down for quarantine, I’d say was probably one of our top 3-5 years,” said Mangan.
But it hasn’t all been roses and chocolates during the pandemic. Chocolate shops have had their hurdles to overcome, like a shortage of the sweet stuff.
“One of the reasons for that, there was really extreme drought in some of the places they grow the cocoa beans, same with coffee. So there was a shortage there and then the labor shortage but we’ve been able to maintain our prices down here and kind of figure it out,” Mangan said.
Over the 3 1/2 years Mangan has worked at Kehr’s Candies, she’s developed a few chocolaty favorites of her own.
“Probably the chocolate covered Oreos, a little basic but it’s super tasty, the mint meltaways, the pomegranate truffle and the chocolate turtle.”
Needless to say, giving chocolates and candy are in no way an old fashioned gesture to say “I Love You” on February 14th or any other day of the year.