How The C Shop got its name

Our location was by the sea, we planned to make the candy where people could see it, and many of the things we wanted to carry (cotton candy, carmelcorn, carmel apples, candy, cake donuts, and local crafts) started with the letter "C" so we began thinking of calling our store “The C Shop” right away. However, we wanted some clever way of writing it so people would remember it. We played around with a list of things inside of a big "C" and all sorts of ideas but nothing seemed just right. One day Mr. Alesse wrote a "C" and started to write an "S" inside of it.

Before he had finished it, we both knew it was going to make a whale and that it was just the clever thing we had been looking for. So that is how The C Shop whale was born and how we got our slogan, "A Whale of a place to go!"

Shore Acres

We opened on Sunday, June 26, 1971, and made our first batch of candy (Carmelcorn) on June 29th. Our motto that year was, "There is only one substitute for experience and that's quality." From the very beginning we wanted to use high quality ingredients and turn out products that tasted delicious.

Early Years

The C Shop grew each year and remained 8 years at Shore Acres Resort until the Jacobs sold it for the development of the Jacobs Landing Condominiums. In the summer of 1979 we moved to the present location at 4825 Alderson Road.

Family Affair

Keith (age 7) and Burton (age 5) add ingredients to make bicentennial coins for the wagon train. These days Keith continues to make candy in the window and Burton's daughters occasionally join in to help out. Patricia makes candy and Patrick roasts coffee on the back porch.

Moving On Up

In 1979, Patrick and Patricia purchased the building at the corner of Alderson Road and Birch Bay Drive. Cinnamon rolls and sandwiches were available at the east end and candy in the west end. In 1988, they added pizza. In 2009, Keith and Saara officially joined The C Shop, LLC as partners to give Patrick and Patricia more time for fun. They are still involved, however, since working at The C Shop is fun!

Where We Are Now

During the break in 2020, we moved candy retail to the larger space in the east and expanded our chocolate production area in the west half of the building. Now we can continue to make high quality delicious candies and grow The C Shop family.