TYRONE/BLAIR COUNTY, Pa — Cupid’s arrows once again landed many at candy shops this Valentine's Day, and Gardner's Candies employees in Blair County say COVID didn’t get in the way.
“Not necessarily. I think there's a lot of factors this year, just withretail prices have kind of skyrocketed a little bit, people are spending less but we have the customer count, so that’s good,” said Kristin Barrett, the Manager of the company's Tyrone store.
She says preorders were also at a high level.
“Pretty close to last year’s figures but we did have extra strawberries this year, which was great, so customers coming in that forgot to preorder can still pick up,” she said.
Company President Joe DeStadio says that’s no small feat.
“Last year was a very good year and the fact that we can match it I think is pretty good, so we’re happy,” he said.
Barrett says that considering Valentine's Day fell on a Monday this year opposed to a weekend last year, the store has had no shortage of customers.
“It’s been pretty swift. Our traffic has been more than what I expected for today," she said. "With it falling on a Monday, kind of figured that the weekend was going to be busier but we’re definitely seeing lots of customers today.”
For others, such as Gardner's customer David Ritchie, Valentine’s Day carries some extra significance.
“It’s my 18th anniversary also," he shared. "We got married at a group wedding on February 14th, 2007, so it’s a pretty big day.”
And he knew exactly what to get.
“Definitely chocolate and some kind of a stuffed animal like the little gnome guy or something funny, something cute.”
And DeStadio says Gardner’s is now turning their attention to the spring.
“We’re really looking ahead toward Easter, so that’s really where we’re getting a lot of our exposure, a lot of our traffic, and hopefully the customers that bought from us for Valentine's Day will visit us again before Easter.”
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