LINDALE, Texas — It's officially less than one week away from Valentine’s Day, and the Lindale Candy Company has tons of treats that’ll help sweeten up the holiday.
Truffles? Chocolate-covered strawberries? Handmade hard candies? Whatever you’re into, the Lindale Candy Company has got it in spades.
They’ve been in operation for more than 75 years. So they know how to prepare for the Valentine’s Day rush.
"January is actually one of the toughest months on our chocolate kitchen, because we have to produce as much chocolate as we normally do for Christmas, for Valentine’s, in literally about a third of the time," said store owner Jeremiah Cagle.
Lots of the Valentine’s chocolates that’ll be on display have been made already, so now the shop’s focus shifts to decorating with the chocolate they have left.
"So we’re gonna straight dip strawberries all week long, we’ll expect to do well over 3,000 berries next week for sure," Cagle said.
And if it seems like 3,000 strawberries is a lot, don’t forget, Valentine’s Day is always an occasion where folks are willing to spend.
"Well the national retail federation has estimated that consumers are going to spend about $25.8 billion this year, with about $14.2 billion of that spent on significant others," said Kerri Camp, a professor of marketing at UT Tyler.
Cagle and his wife have been operating the Lindale Candy Company since 2019, and for them it’s just a thrill to bring joy to East Texas with their one-of-a-kind shop.
"To be able to step up front and see those experiences of people walking in for the first time. Truly you’re walking into just a unique experience with everything that we do here," Cagle said.