Lisa Dunlap offers a line of island-made confections at her new Seabreeze storefront.
Polite and cheery, Lisa Dunlap hardly appears rebellious.
But for a woman whose father once owned a health food store, peddling peppermint and praline could qualify as outright defiance.
“I used to bag raisins in the back of the store,” she said, adding that her own children likely will chip in at Bon Bon, her new candy shop on the corner of Madison and Bjune. “I guess it’s come full circle.”
Full circle might also best describe one’s belly, should one succumb entirely to the startling array of sweets behind the Bon Bon counter.
The store, among the first tenants at the new Seabreeze development, celebrated its grand opening on Saturday, with customers cramming in for a chance to sate their sweet tooth.
With so much to choose from, few left disappointed.
Dunlap makes several kinds of fudge – chocolate, vanilla and rocky road among the many – from recipes she’s accumulated over the past 40 years.
The rest of Bon Bon’s inventory comes from candy makers near and far, all of which are carefully selected by Dunlap based on quality and, of course, taste. Treats range from taffy to gummy bears to hand-twisted lollipops, colorfully displayed near the window.
“A lot of people are overwhelmed by all the choices,” Dunlap said. “It’s fun to watch them react.”
Reactions vary from customer to customer. Many adults, Dunlap said, are struck by nostalgia when they see the sweets that were staples of their childhood, like Charleston Chew. Kids, meanwhile, have their own section to peruse, with selections that are “weird, wild and wacky.”
The idea, Dunlap said, is to have something for everyone, which is why she researched the candy market for two years before opening Bon Bon.
She acknowledged her own sweet tooth, but said she mostly chose to open a candy store because she saw a void in the local market and thought people would enjoy such a shop.
“I told my father the day I graduated that I wanted my own store,” she said. “He told me it would be hard work.”
Dunlap’s path to entrepreneurial bliss was a windy one, taking her through a number of professions and then motherhood.
She, her husband Jim and her three children came to Bainbridge seven years ago, and fell in love with the area. Finally, as her kids got older, she saw an opportunity to open her store and seized it.
Dunlap expects her inventory to evolve. She wants the store to be a reflection of the products islanders want, and encouraged people to suggest different kinds of candy and bring in ideas or recipes for new types of fudge.
She’s working on the store’s website and will offer plenty of gift options for Valentine’s Day, birthdays or any other occasion for which candy may be suited.
And, she said, along with the enjoyment of fine chocolate come some rather unexpected health benefits – a recent study conducted in the Netherlands found that dark chocolate contains four times as many antioxidants as green tea.
Dunlap, who had always preferred milk chocolate, has recently found herself leaning toward dark chocolate as she samples more specialty brands, which tend to contain less sugar.
Which is why Dunlap has made sampling a part of her customers’ experience. Along with her own fudge, she carries chocolate and candy from a variety of vendors, many of them local.
She hopes that by offering people the chance to taste Bon Bon’s products, the store will continue to shift toward the island’s collective palate.
That, along with strong customer service from her and her six employees, is how Dunlap plans to find success in the Bainbridge candy market.
“We just like to have a lot of fun,” she said, of the store’s staff. “There are enough bad things going on. We want this to be a place that makes people happy.”
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The sweet life
Bon Bon, at the corner of Bjune and Madison, offers homemade fudge and an assortment of chocolate, taffy and other tantalizing treats. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Call 780-0199 for more information.
