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MCC Business Directory and Resource Guide
2011 Small Business of the Year Award Winner
Good’s Candy Shop is a sweet success By Emma Bowen Meyer Randy Good is not simply enamored with chocolate and ice cream, he is captivated by every aspect of the business. He has invented recipes, fashioned confections, crafted business plans, packaged and marketed products and even constructed Good’s Candy Shop with his own two hands. “The only thing I don’t like about my job is that I can’t be here 24 hours a day,” said Good, sitting in his office as the smell of chocolate wafted through the air. “Every aspect of business is involved in this company — manufacturing a product from scratch to packaging to retail.” While Good had the fortune of growing up in the family business of tasty treats, he really took the idea to the next level when he purchased the company from his parents in 1992. Various family members had owned candy shops, but only as hobbies or second incomes. While they were only open half of each year, Good saw potential for a successful full-time venture. “All chocolate businesses are driven by the holidays, and there aren’t any holidays in the hot-weather months,” he explained. “The only thing more popular than chocolate is ice cream. When the holiday traffic lessens, the ice cream traffic picks up.” By building the ice cream parlor inside the store, Good has shored up the weak months and has been able to create a thriving business. “We sell a lot of chocolate online, but the lion’s share of our business walks in the front door,” he said. “People have a hard time grasping the fact that enough people pull into our front parking lot to support us. There is this
Photo by Emma Bowen Meyer Good's Candy Shop production manager Jason Good and Randy Good, owner, cut caramel pieces in the back room of the shop.
All chocolate businesses are driven by the holidays, and there aren’t any holidays in the hot-weather months. The only thing more popular than chocolate is ice cream. When the holiday traffic lessens, the ice cream traffic picks up.” Randy Good
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idea that people in Anderson won’t support a local business. It’s not true. People have been very good to us for 30 years.” It’s still a family business. Randy’s son, Jason, is the production manager, and his oldest grandson, Mason Good, has been working in the shop since age 8. Teaching his descendants the lessons he’s learned, Good is quick to attribute all he has to simple hard work. Being recognized for his efforts with the Small Business of the Year Award from the
Chamber of Commerce was a touching moment for Good. “When you live and breathe and invest in something, and then your contemporaries notice and recognize you for it, it is very moving,” he said. “I’m not formally educated, I just worked hard. I am living proof that hard work pays off.” Hard work blurs into play as the community events at Good’s Candy Shop have become a monthly extravaganza. Crowds line up to taste the free samples and engage in lively conversa-
tion. One event drew 1,400 visitors. Good happily hustles with ice cream scoop in hand. “It’s been fantastic,” he said. “People love it. We love it. I live off the rule of reciprocity. All the events are free, and all of the samples are free. Because I do that, people reciprocate and support the business.” And, of course, the candy guru also lives by one more rule: “If you don’t eat good chocolate and ice cream, you won’t live any longer – it will just feel like it.”