May 8, 2017

Meet Jessica Puppe’ of Candy Kravins

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Puppe’.

Jessica, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
We actually started as an eBay store in 2004 and during the year 2009 we started selling candy exclusively, which we ran from our home/garage up until March 2016. We still operate on eBay to this day and are working on a “will call” style online store with another site for purchase and pick up at the store. We’ve been a father- daughter duo doing everything ourselves from the beginning while I, the daughter half, maintain a full-time career in accounting. So, we opened our storefront in Paramount March 1st of 2016. We are still the main people running it with the help of other family members. We had a pretty good first year and are getting into the groove of things and building some solid relationships with the major distributors around us. We’ve had great success with people telling family and friends and many have become regular shoppers. We love the joy candy brings to kids and adults alike and the happy atmosphere a candy store brings to all areas of LA’s diverse population. It’s taken lots of time and effort but we are definitely making our mark. We rely heavily on social media outlets to stay engaged with our customers which they seem to love and we’ve had people from all over the world follow us on Instagram – proving our theory that candy can be a bridge between all walks of life… who doesn’t love something sweet now and then?! This venture for my father and myself is our effort to create something that we hope will last generations and be a way for each of us to live a comfortable happy life. I intend to help my father grow this business so that he and my mother can retire, comfortably, and have that purpose flow through generations of our family for years to come. Like I mentioned, I do maintain a full-time career as an accountant in West LA but my goal is to grow the business into something financially stable enough for me to take over full time in a few years and let my parents relax and enjoy life.

Has it been a smooth road?
It hasn’t been easy. The long nights, the funding, the finding trustworthy people to take your adventure with you. When you own a “mom and pop” kind of business you do it all…. the day to day tasks, the books, the cleaning, the stocking, reordering. You have to learn all areas of business and be involved enough to stay on top of all aspects and details. We’ve been lucky in the sense that we’ve grown every year and haven’t had any major problems – but owning a business takes blood, sweat and tears and an “all-in” spirit to keep things moving in a positive direction. We count our blessings daily and know that we have been lucky to get where we are without any major issues that can’t be fixed and/or learned from. In anything you do in life there’s bound to be obstacles, what separates the winners from the others are those who don’t give up or let the issue outweigh your dreams to make it work for you.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
We are a small, for now, wholesale candy store. We are open to the public so you don’t need a resale license to get low pricing. We like to think of it like this – we are bringing a little bit of Downtown LA’s wholesale district closer to home for many people. We specialize in candy for parties, candy buffets and other work, school and church events. We are known for our wide selection of solid colored candies, name brand favorites, Latin/Mexican candy selection and our trendy wall art! Although our pricing is similar to Downtown, we provide a unique, clean, bright retail feel with modern abstract animal portraits hung throughout the store. Not to mention our engagement with our customers; We pride ourselves in treating everyone like family/friends and making their experience in our store like that of no other. We love giving suggestions and helping people whenever possible and it’s no rarity to find one of us helping someone out to their car. We’ve donated candy to local churches for their annual “Trunk or Treat” event and enjoy giving back to the community in any way possible. Without the support, we’ve had from locals and shoppers from surrounding cities we wouldn’t be here so we look for ways to give back to the community however we can. We have good old fashioned values with a modern-day vibe with all the perks of a mom and pop store. There are a good number of candy stores in the surrounding areas but from what our customers tell us, we take the cake in giving a clean, enjoyable, low priced and high quality experience. We are a one stop shop for many as we also carry essentials like utensils, piñatas, plates, paper towels and other items you may need for an event.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Los Angeles is one of the greatest and largest metropolitan areas for small and large businesses alike. The diversity offered in customers and the sheer number of people that populate the city/county makes it an amazing place to open a business. The recommendation we would give is to find a need, find an accessible and appropriate location and give it your all. Granted there are some businesses that don’t make it but if you can fill a need that people have and do it well, giving yourself a name and place in your community, you’re probably going to do pretty well yourself!

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