Debbie and Joe Glordano purchased the Powell’s Sweet Shoppe franchise in 2006 and opened January 2007. They rebranded as Cravin’s Candy Emporium in 2016. Cravin’s Candy Emporium is a neighborhood of candy stores and gelato shops where the aim is to create a fun experience for all ages. Cravin’s Candy Emporium is a ‘Main Street’ type of business – all products are locally made and shown through creative displays.
When the Glordono’s decided it was time to grow and do more marketing for their business, they reached out to the SBDC for help. The SBDC helped them with marketing, including increasing reach on their social media platforms. The SBDC also helped them apply for SBA loans and hire employees. The commercial kitchen they were able to get through the SBA loans helped save the business $45,000 per year across the three locations, turned some of their lowest margin items into their best margin items and generated additional revenue of $156,000 on top of savings made.
“The knowledge [the SBDC] provided really made us feel in control of our business. We were most fortunate to have been made aware of so many opportunities through the SBDC to further promote our business.”
“The entrepreneurial journey is incredible because no one is paving the way for you,” said Debbie. “It’s constantly learning, growing and evolving like your customer, the markets and the world. We have never been bored or had a dull moment on the journey, and we’ve met some incredible people we’d have never met otherwise. We feel very optimistic about the future. Our knowledge of the candy industry, the connections we’ve made in the industry, and our valuable sixteen years of running a successful business through economic highs and lows (not to mention a pandemic) has us very excited for more growth for our business.”
The Glordano’s plan on continuing this growth by purchasing their own commercial building and expanding to an online store and outside retailers.