The Candyman ; He Resurrected an Ages-Old Brand and Brought It Back Home

A bite into a sugary vanilla caramel square sent Edith R. Smith of Midlothian running down memory lane. The sweet treat dissolving in her mouth was a familiar flavor she had not tasted in years.

It wasn’t until Smith, 80, saw the name on the candy box at a Maryland Hecht’s department store last year that she knew it was indeed the candy she remembered as a child growing up in Washington.

It was the Italian caramel manufactured by Velatis, a company that traces its roots to Civil War-era Richmond.

“As a little girl, when the box came I always knew something good was in the house,” she said. “Velatis reminds me of the good times and memories of my childhood.”

Smith wanted to send the candy to her friends and let her family experience a piece of her childhood. But it was almost a year before she saw a magazine article that mentioned how to purchase the candy.

“I finally found you,” Smith exclaimed, as though she had found an old friend, when she called this month to place an order for a friend. “It’s so good to find you. I just love your candy. I grew up with it.”

Customers such as Smith remind Bill Servais why he purchased the Velatis company nine years ago.

“Every time a customer calls in and shares a testimonial with us, it justifies why I bought this business,” Servais said.

Servais, along with wife, Carol, son, Lance, and daughter Amy Sterling, own The Original Velatis in Goochland County, a caramel factory and store that got its start in Richmond in the 1860s.

A bittersweet past

Salvatore and Mary Velati, a couple who came to the United States from Turin, Italy, introduced the Velatis candy to America using an old European recipe.

For much of its existence, the Velatis store and kitchen were at 620 Ninth St. NW in downtown Washington. The Velati family relocated there after their Richmond store burned during the Civil War.

The Washington store opened in 1866 and continued at that address until 1972, when subway construction destroyed it.

From there Velatis moved to Woodward & Lothrop, a Washington department store, where workers in the fifth-floor kitchen continued making the candies. In 1980, the department store bought Velatis from its owners at the time, William and Robert Beyer, who were descendants of the Velati family.

But in 1996, Woodward & Lothrop declared bankruptcy. After 130 years as a city institution, Velatis was no more.

“I was devastated,” said Servais, who grew up enjoying the treats. “I was a customer and couldn’t buy the candy anymore. I had to do something.”

In the year of the bankruptcy, J.C. Penney Co. acquired many of Woodward & Lothrop’s assets and was looking to sell them. Velatis was among them.

So Servais, who was living in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., quickly persuaded the family to purchase Velatis.

The family agreed to help in the purchase, and they flew to Dallas, where Servais, his wife and two of his three children became owners of the Velatis name and recipes. Servais’ daughter Michelle, a graphic designer for Marriott, declined to be a part of the family venture because of time constraints.

The next few months were learning opportunities for Servais and his wife, who knew nothing about running a candy business.

Servais, who had worked as a computer software designer and management consultant, had some knowledge on how to run a business from being manager of a Giant grocery store in Maryland. His wife had a banking background and was manager of a mortgage banking unit with Bank Atlantic in Florida.

The couple decided that by putting their skills together, they could run a business. Bill Servais would use his computer software knowledge to keep track of finances, and Carol would be in charge of packing and shipping.

Their next task would be mastering the recipes.

“We had a lot of learning to do, so it took about 10 months for us to get it right,” Servais said. “We couldn’t get some of the recipes down.”

But they eventually did and began operations in Florida. Candy was sold over the Internet and by phone.

Sales were slow in the beginning, Servais said, declining to provide specifics. But they increased as the public became reacquainted with the Velatis name.

The company advertised in selected magazines and newspapers, including in Richmond, Washington and Maryland. The Servaises also developed mailing lists of customers to whom they sent coupons and fliers.

A sweet return

Soon the Servais family had customers from across the United States, but mainly from Virginia, Maryland and Washington.

They had even sold boxes of candy to Hecht’s department stores.

In August 2002, Servais decided to move the business back to its roots and closer to its customer base in Virginia. The family selected a spot near the James River in Goochland’s rural community of Maidens.

The business is conveniently nestled between a sub shop and a post office. “Eighty-five percent of our customers are mail-order, so we can just walk down the hall and put the orders in the mail,” Servais said.

Since the company returned to Virginia, sales have been increasing annually, Servais said. “Last year’s sales beat the year before by 15 percent.”

The company makes nearly 600 pounds of candy in the store every day — and more during Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter and Mother’s Day.

Summer is usually much quieter, but the business does OK, Servais said. “We make enough money to pay the rent and pay the bills.”

The company feels it has perfected the recipe, and its challenge is finding a way to expand the candy’s shelf life.

“We use all-natural ingredients and no preservatives, which makes it hard for us to sell to retailers,” he said. “We’re looking to using nitrogen . . . in our packaging, like potato chip manufacturers, to maintain freshness.”

The company also is looking for new ways to gain customers. Customers can make candy purchases at the company’s reformatted Web site, www.velatis.com.

“People love the Internet so we wanted to accommodate them,” Servais said.

The company has attempted to create a new generation of Velatis lovers by developing new tastes to their caramel offerings, including chocolate raspberry, coconut, pumpkin spice and eggnog.

Its black-cherry-brandy-flavored candy earned the company the 2004 Best New Product Award at the Virginia Food and Beverage Expo. Servais displays the award proudly at the front of his store for patrons to see.

“It was a proud moment for the company. It was the first time we entered a contest, and we won,” he said.

Servais hopes to keep the Velatis business in the family for a long time.

“We hope to evolve the business into a multimillion-dollar company,” he said. “If we maintain a quality product and good customer service, we should be able to because that’s what keeps customers coming back.”

Servais, 68, said he is proud of his business and feels like he made the perfect investment.

“I was looking for something to do after I retired,” he said. “I never thought it would be this.”

THE ORIGINAL VELATIS

* Address: 22746-B Maidens Loop, Maidens, VA 23102

* Phone: (804) 556-5977 or (888) 483-5284

* Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Saturdays in December: 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

* Web site: www.velatis.com