Expanding our Hershey's Horizons

It was with some amazement that we learned of the closing of Hershey's Gifts catalog business and website this summer.  Along with several other major catalog businesses, The Hershey Company decided to focus more on their core business of selling directly to retail chains versus direct to consumers.

It seems like this decision was probably made long before the economic crisis of 2009, and could be attributed more to a simple strategy shift.  Over the past several years, The Hershey Company has been acquiring brands such as specialty chocolate maker, Scharffen Berger and Hawaiian nut company Mauna Loa which have taken it further away from some of its core business.
 
The good news for Carson customers is that the shift has given us an opportunity to grow our own Hershey's Gifts business.  Utilizing our 16,000 sq. ft. facility and purchasing power, we have partnered with some of the best packaging businesses in the U.S. in order to grow and expand our own gift products.  While we already have created a very strong personalized gift business, we now also offer non personalized gift items filled with the freshest Hershey's chocolate you can buy anywhere, because we get ours directly from Hershey, PA.
 
So while The Hershey Company continues to focus on making the World's Best Chocolate, there is even more opportunity for Carson to bring that great chocolate to you either personalized or non personalized in our new and exciting gift packaging for almost every occasion.

We're not sleeping!!

Judging by our blog updates,  I am sure it seems like we have all fallen asleep here at Carson, I can assure you that nothing could be further from the truth.  In fact, we are working harder than ever.

Here are some of the recent goings on....

Our Creative Production department has been working on new product ideas and wrapper designs that are being added weekly to our New Web Site.  You can find the latest and greatest designs in our most popular categories, such as birth, wedding and birthday.

And did I mention our NEW WEB SITE !   I can hardly express how excited we all are to finally be able to share the new wrappedhersheys.com with our customers.  Over 12 months of work all geared toward making our customers experience the best it could possibly be.  But the work is still not done.. over the next several months we will continue to add new and exciting products and tweak the site to ensure that it is the most user friendly experience possible.

Please come back and visit often, as you will no doubt see something new each time, including all new gift items for all occasions.  Allow us to send gifts to the most important people on your list this Halloween and Holiday Season.

Hershey & Rascal Flatts

Well the moon and the stars have finally aligned for my daughter Ellis, and Hershey and Rascal Flatts have joined forces..

If you follow this blog even a little, you know that Ellis is a Rascal Flatts fanatic and follows their every move.  Well, The Hershey Company keeps our whole family happy, so this new promotion combining both of them is almost too good to be true.  If somehow she could get Rascal Flatts to our neighborhood, I don't think she would ever let them leave.

Make sure to visit this link so you can sign up early and often.. I know Ellis will!

Scientists Unveil Chocolate-Fueled Race Car

If you didn't catch this sweet news, you are going to want to read it. Chocolate not only makes the world go around, it can also make your car go as well. Can you just imagine pulling up to the "chocolate station" to fill er up! No more gas fumes and smog in our cities, only the sweet smell of chocolate in the air.

Talk about the world being one big Candyland ...............

http://www.physorg.com/news160755240.html

Charm City Surprise

In October I became a member of the 40 and over club. So far, I am not too bothered by the accomplishment.

Sharon, the girls and I are "Foodies" and not only love to eat good food, but we find ourselves often watching the Food Network. One of our favorite shows is Ace of Cakes, which is a reality show about a bakery in Baltimore that creates some of the most amazing, one-of-a-kind cakes you will ever see.

Well, for my Big 4-0, my girls and Sharon wrote to the fine folks at Charm City Cakes and gave them probably way to much information about me so that they could create a special birthday cake to celebrate this event.  See Sharon's article "Ace of Birthdays" for her perspective of the event. 

Since Hershey, Pa. is only about 90 miles from Baltimore, we decided to make this "Birthday Trip" a doubleheader and have fun at both places. We flew into Harrisburg, Pa. which is actually one of the nicest, easiest airports I have ever been. We proceeded directly to Hershey, and went to East Chocolate Avenue to visit Jennifer Krahling, and the customer service team there that helps us make sure we have plenty of Hershey's Chocolate on hand for our customers. They were very gracious; and we told them all about our trip to Baltimore.

The leaves were in all of their Fall splendor and the drive to Baltimore was absolutely beautiful. We had never been there before and stayed at the Henderson's Wharf Inn .  It was very comfortable, and we were able to walk to shops and restaurants close by. We even saw the famous Domino Sugar sign. Baltimore is definitely a city I want to spend more time in some day.

The next morning we proceeded to Charm City Cakes for our scheduled pick up of my "surprise" cake. It was just so cool to see the building and the people we have watched on the show for the last few years, and they were extremely nice. Chef Duff and Geoff were in California so we did not get to meet them. But Mary Alice was there; and the girls were very happy to find out that Elena was the one who made my special birthday cake.

So I know what you are thinking: tell me about the cake already will you! OK, I will.

The cake was Bananas Foster flavored, and a Willy Wonka themed creation, with me sitting on top dressed in--you guessed it--Willy Wonka garb. Scattered around the cake were custom Hershey's miniatures (made out of gum paste so that we can keep them forever) basically detailing the favorite things in my life. From my wife and daughters to my cats and hobbies, they were all there on custom Hershey's miniatures bars. It was truly wonderful and something I will always cherish.

We left Baltimore and headed back to Hershey Pa. where we checked into the Hershey Hotel. We stayed in the Hugs and Kisses Suite, and ate cake for 3 meals a day for the rest of our stay. My girls thought the world had turned upside down because we let them eat cake whenever they wanted.

A wonderful trip, and a wonderful 40th birthday.

Home At Last!

The Project Runway Hershey Dresses are now officially "In The House" and back at CARSON wrappedhersheys.com. They are proudly displayed throughout the building for everyone to enjoy.

Until now, they were prominently on display at Dylan's Candy Bar for her Red Carpet Grand Reopening event in November. Dylan was also kind enough to have her picture taken with the dresses and as a "chocolate"  token of our appreciation, we presented her with one of our famous 5 lb. custom Hershey Bars which she signed for us as well!

A Huge Candy Thank You to all the great people at Dylan's Candy Bar and their sweet leader, Dylan Lauren.

All Things "Hershey"

In my regular research and education about all things “Hershey” I ran across The Hershey Insider, a wonderful blog about exactly that topic. 

The blog is written by a local resident of Hershey, Pa. and covers topics not just about the Hershey Company and the new products it is creating regularly, but it also offers a really great insight into the history and present day activities going on in the town Milton Hershey built as well.

And don’t be surprised that the photography on the site is absolutely wonderful, because it is no coincidence that the blog’s author is also a professional photographer.  Her work, in a word, is very “sweet”! The blog is updated very often, and I encourage you to check it out. I will continue to be a regular reader as well.

CARSON Summer

I don’t know where the summer went, but as I write this it is the first day of Fall. It has been an absolutely action packed summer at Carson, and we have been fortunate to enjoy a lot of work and a lot of fun at the same time.
This year was the first year of the “Carson Concert Series” at Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati. We had four season VIP tickets for the summer and there was a show for everyone regardless of their musical taste. From Avril Lavine and the Jonas Brothers, to John Mellencamp and Kid Rock, and of course Rascal Flatts, everyone who went got to see a great show. Many wrote a little something about the show and took pictures that we have put on the big screens around our facility for all to enjoy.
In August we were very happy to participate and provide custom favors for the Reds Hall of Fame event where three great Reds were newly inducted, including hometown favorite Barry Larkin. The Reds Hall of Fame at The Great American Ballpark is also celebrating its 50th anniversary as well. It is a truly wonderful facility to visit for any baseball fan.

Our Project Runway Hershey dresses have been on display all summer at Dylan’s Candy Bar in New York City, and the internet is buzzing about them, full of photos, videos and stories from those who have seen and enjoyed them.  I will admit, however, we are excited to get them back at the end of October.
Just a great Summer all around, but we are looking forward to both Halloween and the Holiday Season that we have been preparing for now for several months, but more on that later...

Candy Capital

In June, Sharon and I took the girls to New York City for their first trip to the Big Apple. It was a real treat. Naturally, we did all of the touristy things...well, not all of them, that would take a real long time and we only had a few days...but we did see a lot: Battery Park, Ground Zero, The NYSE, Soho, Rockefeller Center, and of course Central Park. We saw two Broadway shows: Legally Blonde, which was really fun, and Wicked. But we also enjoyed some of the “sweeter” things New York City has to offer.

Seredipity is a famous hangout for "sweet tooths" of all ages. Everyone from celebrities to simple folk have enjoyed a treat there. They also have the World’s Most Expensive Golden Opulence Sundae. Very close to Serendipity is the Mecca of Candy, Dylan's Candy Bar.

If you go to NYC for any reason whatsoever, business, pleasure or otherwise, you must go to Dylan’s. Needless to say, my daughters absolutely loved the store with candy abounding, and enjoyed some great ice cream treats from the café while they were there. They even left with some “candy couture” to wear back home. The Project Runway Season Four Hershey Dresses are on display in the window and many stop to get their picture taken with them. It was really fun to watch.

Hershey also has a wonderful store right in the middle of Times Square, and right across the street from M&M World.  These two candy giants go head to head on the busiest intersection in America, and it is us candy lovers that win.

In New York City, you can actually go on a “chocolate tour” where you can be ferried to taste some of the greatest tasting chocolates the world has to offer...some day I am going to make a point to take the sweet tour, I promise you.

Not only is New York City the melting pot, it is the candy capital !

Mars

Last month, a blockbuster deal was announced in the candy world.  Hershey’s number one competitor in the United States, Mars, Inc. (makers of Snicker’s and M&M’s) purchased the world’s largest gum maker Wrigley, for $80 a share.    

Both of these huge candy companies are family businesses started decades ago, and combined they will be an undeniable force in the candy industry. The deal includes financing from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.

Combined, this company will be the number one chocolate maker in the world, and is sure to spark more consolidation in the candy industry.  We will continue to watch and see what happens next, but here at CARSON, we will just continue to work hard to exceed our customers' expectations, one customer at a time.