Holiday Candy Ordering: It's a Marathon.

Here's what Jeff and I did last Friday.  For the 23rd time we ordered Halloween and Christmas/Chanukah candy from the first sales rep we ever knew:  Gary O.
The first time I met with Gary to order holiday candy it was in the back room of our first store....in The Farm Shopping Center.  I knew absolutely nothing about candy,  Of course I had eaten candy but never stopped to think about what candies were popular and what candies would do well for the various holidays in the fall.  I liked Mars bars (frozen, of course) and Bit O Honey .  A real gourmet, huh?
Gary was very patient...so patient that it took 8 hours for us to complete that order.  At this point I don't even remember anything in particular about that day.  I do remember that the back of my desk chair was always up against the bathroom door.  And I learned that some people make pigs out of marzipan.  So you can imagine how crowded Gary and I were when we were paging through his sales book.
This year we were down to about 5 hours for the ordering process.  Of course we had to stop for a  BarBQue lunch...Gary's favorite meal.  And occasionally there was a little gossiping, a little reminiscing, a few jokes, looking out the window at the torrential rain and of course, bathroom breaks.
I vowed that 2015 would not be a PEEPS year.  PEEPS are supposed to be Easter candy, right?.  I wanted the NEW STUFF.  After 22 years, you can imagine that some repeat candy simply has to go go go.
One observation:  folks are not buying chocolate Santas like they did in the "old days".  Don't know why but I do know when you have a lot of left over Santas one year, you steer clear of that problem the next year.
"Coal" candy for the naughty ones is still popular.  Peppermint triumphs over cherry and raspberry every holiday season.  And since last year the concept of the Mensch (ok...look it up) has gained popularity for Chanukah candy.
23 years!!!  Wow...Jeff gets a kick out of the conversations Gary and I have every time we get together for this marathon candy ordering.  Like an old married couple...as people used to say...we have know each other that long. He can't retire until I do!!
Stay tuned for more about holiday candy.  Let's get past July 4th first!