You Say It's Your Birthday

September 1, 1992:  the day we bought Sweet Tooth.  It was really my sister's idea.  We already owned laundromats and why was that?  Our dad started his own business and somehow once upon a time we thought it would be good for us to learn how to own and run a business. We are first generation Americans and America for our family was a "golden land".
After a few years of laundry, my sister thought we should buy another business....something near to where we both lived.  At the time we lived on either side of Sheridan, about 2 blocks from each other.  Sweet Tooth was in the Farm Shopping Center which was close to both of us.  The asking price was right and we simply went ahead and did it.
The owner at the time was moving to Houston.  She had taken over the store from the original owner who had put the first Sweet Tooth in the back room of Baskin Robbins.  She was a gourmet cook and the store had both candy, some greeting cards, a few gifts and a section of gourmet cookware.
We knew nothing about gourmet cooking so the next summer, during the sidewalk sale, we put all the cookware on sale and began a journey into the "Gift Industry".
You should have seen us at our first gift market that September of 1992.  We wandered around in the Dallas Trade Mart and World Trade Center without a clue as to what we should do.  Our first few years of purchasing gifts had both hits and misses.
We stayed with the candy, though, and with our first sales rep, Gary who sat with me in the tiny back room of Sweet Tooth, my chair up against the door to the bathroom and helped me order candy.  The one line of candy we have carried for 20 years was already in the store....Sweet Shop Truffles.  They remain to this day the very best chocolate for the price and our customers would pitch a fit if we decided to switch.
I really love Sweet Tooth...at this point I don't know what I would do without the store.  It gives us the opportunity to meet new people, to hire good staff who are dedicated and knowledgeable and it is an outlet for whatever small amount of creativity I have.
On Saturday, September 1 we had a number of people come in to shop who remember the 2 stores we had in The Farm.  They are all treasures to us because no matter where we are, they are still with us. 
When we had the laundries we tried to make them the sort of place we would like to come to.  And with Sweet Tooth, we have tried to create a home away from home for our customers.  In your home, aren't you always re-arranging the furniture, buying new decorations, adding good food, greeting your friends and family?  Well, that's what we do at Sweet Tooth.
You say it's your birthday....yep, our 20th and more to come!!