 7001 Lomas Blvd. Northeast, just east of  George Buffett and his daughter, Patty.  Are we at the North Pole? Try the Southwest, the sweetest sweets in Albuquerque!  Candy that wins awards and your heart too!  Cover it in chocolate add a miracle or two  Sweets for the Sweet!  Delicious candy in the making!  Lollipops, a sure delight for kids of all ages!  Christmas treats, a wonderful, tasty gift to give! |
The Candy Man Can!
Written by Joesph A. Haviland
He’s the other Buffett! Not Warren Buffett, who according to Forbes magazine was the richest man in the world in 2008 (he dropped to 2nd richest in the U.S. in 2009 after giving away billions to charity), but George Buffett, the Candy Man of Albuquerque. But you could call the two men, who could pass as brothers, candy cousins. You see, Warren, the billionaire, is CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. which counts See’s Candies as one of its many profitable subsidiaries, including Fruit of the Loom, Geico Auto Insurance, and Ben Bridge Jewelers, just to name a few. At a very early age, George Buffett (owner of Buffett’s Candies, an Albuquerque landmark since early 1950) of whom this story is about, decided that he’d focus solely on candy. He wasn’t much interested in diversifying like his more famous cousin, but he took advantage of the fact that his cousin was already in the candy business. A graduate of Albuquerque High School, George attended University of New Mexico, earning a degree in business. “I had one more B than I had D’s by the time I graduated,” he says laughing. “I think I had a 1.0 average.” He shrugs his shoulders. “Having a degree wasn’t important to me, but it was to other people.” After college, he headed West to California, keeping his degree a secret so that he could work on the factory floor, making sweets at See’s Candy. Making candies in Sitting, talking to George in the shop portion of Buffett Candies, located at For now, he’s just another octogenarian who’s living the sweet life here in the Land of Enchantment one candy at a time. And all you have to decide is whether to enjoy his white, dark or milk chocolate creations. “I like just about everything here,” he says, surveying his sweet-smelling shop. “I like making the candy, figuring out how things work, and the customers.” Why else would he keep coming to work, long after many men his age have retired? And as a simple explanation for the secret of his company’s success, he adds, “People come into a candy store and they’re happy.” It’s his happy, loyal repeat customers and the never-ending stream of new customers, like Alicia and I, who spell sweet success for this candy shop. You can’t help but make time to stop and visit this iconic store with the signature bigger-than-life candy cane leaning against the red and white building outside. Originally the candy cane was a temporary holiday decoration, but George decided to keep it up permanently. It started out as the same piece of metal pipe used in the uranium mines in Grants, New Mexico, and George had it fashioned into a 20 foot red striped cane. “It looked so good, we never took it down,” he proclaims proudly, acting as if the candy cane has become a sort of lucky charm. In a recessionary economy where many businesses, like the auto industry, whose showroom floors and new car-filled parking lots stretch for many blocks here in Albuquerque along Lomas just west of Buffett’s Candy, are selling less or out of business completely, candy sales for George’s company are up. Sales are up every month this year, says George. “People will always find money for good candy,” he states matter of factly. He notes that December (Christmas time) is traditionally his biggest selling month. It’s when he does 50% of his sales. April (Easter time) represents 15% of sales. The rest of the year accounts for 35% of sales. As we continue our sweet-tooth talk, a woman asks if George is the owner. It’s Ramona, a film student at University of New Mexico, who has been filming the shop’s interior. She’s at Buffett Candies with fellow film student, Serrina. Both are making a documentary-type short film on Buffett Candies as it relates to the 2008 film, Sunshine Cleaning, which was filmed here recently. “We closed down for one day,” recalls George. “They gave us more than a $1,000.” Normally, the store sells $500 a day during summer (more around the holidays), so George was happy to accommodate the film crew. In the film a child asks for “fancy corn” which Buffett’s Candies doesn’t actually sell. Their biggest seller is candy corn, made from a recipe George developed back in his concession days. Second to candy corn is pinon candy in caramel, which is very popular, and Ramona, Serrina, and I get to watch the candy being made by James, one of many candy “elves” who create sweet candy concoctions in the back room that houses various shaped metal mixing machines and candy-making contraptions. I didn’t see a river of chocolate or candy cane trees, but George did uncover a vessel that held creamy milk chocolate made from Nestles and Guittard cocoa powder. George, who used to eat lots of candy (14 pieces of candy a day), has cut back due to doctor’s orders. That was almost sixteen years ago, when he was diagnosed diabetic. “He scared the hell out of me,” says George, who has five grandkids. “But I did lose 40 pounds!” Not just locally famous for his candy treats, George was a state legislator (republican national committeeman) for 24 years. It was during the spring, so it didn’t conflict with the biggest selling time of the year for his candy business. As a politician, he penned many a letter (99 in all, he thinks) that became one of his Buffett Bullets http://www.buffettsbullets.com/ . “When I ran for the state legislature, I never knocked on a door. People knew of me through my candy,” claims George. Candy and politics mix when he’s remembering one of his late politician friends, Dan Berry, who was the inspiration for Buffett’s quarter horse (rear part of the horse) chocolate creation. “He’d order lots of them and use them as a calling card.” George recalls one time On my tour of the Buffett’s Candies chocolate factory (smaller than I thought it’d be) which operates daily from 8 am to 5 pm, I mention the movie, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was a nice movie, he says simply, but don’t expect to see him aspiring to be Willy Wonka and give out golden tickets anytime soon. Oh, and don’t look for any oompa loompas http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw0zZttfUaw working here. Instead there are workers like James and Anica making and packaging candies in the back while storefront personnel, like Anne, who’s worked for Mr. Buffett for over 30 years, selling the candy creations to customers. One fringe benefit of working at Buffett’s Candies, I’m told, is that employees get to eat the candy they make/sell. No kidding! And they can eat as much as they want. Imagine that! When we visit the cooling room, just past the packaging room (lots of customers order from the company’s website: www.buffettscandies.com) George pulls out a tray of pinon turtles and offers his visitors one. At the end of our special tour, he gives us each a bag of caramel corn. I wonder if he does that with all his guests. In the end, George also won’t be using words like scrumpdillyicious or singing the candy man song, like Sammy Davis, Jr.: Who can take a sunrise, George Buffett is simply another businessman, not completely unlike his more famous cousin, who’s found a lip-smacking, tasty product to sell at a reasonable price. When I confide to him that Alicia and I don’t want to eat his candy because it’s too pretty, he uses the company’s slogan, saying, “Our candy is made to eat! Not to keep.” Buffett’s Candies uses the freshest ingredients around, including lots of butter and whipping cream. After you’ve eaten them, you won’t be willing to settle for any other. The proud owner of B&H Wholesale on 8th
Written by Joseph Haviland Edited by Alicia Frank Haviland Copyright 2009
|
