Rachael Kehler has entrepreneurial aspirations in her blood from her parents, grandparents and uncle’s successful business ventures, but wasn’t sure what type of business she wanted to own.
Then, one day she was in town and watched as people riding on the Colebrookdale Railroad looked up and down the streets of Boyertown for things to do.
“Every tourist town has a little candy shop,” Kehler said of her 10-year-old business, The Peppermint Stick Candy Store in the heart of her hometown.
The shop features a variety of nostalgic candies ranging from the 1900s through present day, including root beer barrels, candy sticks, bulk candy such as circus peanuts, a wide array of gummy candies, chocolates, truffles and seasonal favorites like chocolate-covered strawberries, peanut butter eggs and candy apples that are made in-house.
Younger customers delight in the wall of “penny candy.” While the candy no longer costs a penny, the selections include many offerings that kids can buy with limited funds.
“They have to come in and make those financial choices and add up the money,” Kehler said of the experience of shopping at her store, noting an old scale and paper bags for smaller purchases. “There’s all these different elements where you’re participating in the purchase.”
The Peppermint Stick Candy Store celebrated 10 years in business this spring. Even with having so many business owners in her family, Kehler sought the outside perspective of a mentor, who could draw on their own personal business expertise. Her mother, who had run an aerobics studio, had mentored with SCORE.
When Kehler set her sights on opening the candy shop, she began working with SCORE TriCounty mentor Tom Gosse.
“I was her original advisor,” Gosse said. “She was my first client 11 years ago.”
Together, Kehler and Gosse were just getting started. With Gosse’s help, Kehler finalized a business plan, mapped out financial projections and discovered a newfound love of organizing with spreadsheets.
“Doing the projections really helps you to plan,” she said. “it’s great having that plan and having somebody to say to you ‘did you think about this, did you think about that?’ ”
Kehler and her mentor still connect on occasion, including Gosse’s introductions of fellow entrepreneurs.
His guidance set Kehler up to expand her business last fall with the addition of an adjoining ice cream parlor. When the dentist’s office closed beside her candy store, Kehler jumped at the opportunity to become a one stop shop for her customers’ sweet cravings.
“We’re a small town,” she said. “When you’re thinking about ice cream, I want people to think of us.”
While foot traffic from visitors to Boyertown helps with day-to-day candy sales, the bulk of sales happen leading up to Christmas, Halloween, Valentine’s Day and Easter. The store sells more than 3,000 pounds of candy for the Boyertown Halloween Parade alone.
Looking ahead, Kehler said she would like to one day open additional locations.
“Having a business is a lot of stress,” Kehler said. “My next priority is to ensure that the business continues.”
Since 1964, SCORE has helped more than 17 million aspiring entrepreneurs. Each year, SCORE provides small business mentoring and workshops to more than 375,000 new and growing small businesses. SCORE TriCounty serves business owners and entrepreneurs in western Montgomery, northern Chester, and eastern Berks counties. For more information, visit https://www.score.org/tricounty
