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Mike McGowan, Operation Manager at Blaine Boring Chocolates, shows off their catalog for fundraiser opportunities for schools and organizations on Monday, Sept., 18, 2023.
Mike McGowan, Operation Manager at Blaine Boring Chocolates, 123 Market Street, Johnstown talks about their hand-dip chocolates, fudge and candies on Monday, Sept., 18, 2023.
Candy maker Linda DeFazio works on making chocolate candy at Blaine Boring Chocolates in Johnstown on Monday, Sept., 18, 2023.
The wide variety of fudge being offered at the Blaine Boring Chocolates on Monday, Sept., 18, 2023.
Milk Chocolate pours into a mixer at Blaine Boring Chocolates in Johnstown on Monday, Sept., 18, 2023.
A milk chocolate Pumpkin from Blaine Boring Chocolates.
A milk chocolate snowman from Blaine Boring chocolates.
Mike McGowan, Operation Manager at Blaine Boring Chocolates, shows off their catalog for fundraiser opportunities for schools and organizations on Monday, Sept., 18, 2023.
Mike McGowan, Operation Manager at Blaine Boring Chocolates, 123 Market Street, Johnstown talks about their hand-dip chocolates, fudge and candies on Monday, Sept., 18, 2023.
Candy maker Linda DeFazio works on making chocolate candy at Blaine Boring Chocolates in Johnstown on Monday, Sept., 18, 2023.
The wide variety of fudge being offered at the Blaine Boring Chocolates on Monday, Sept., 18, 2023.
Milk Chocolate pours into a mixer at Blaine Boring Chocolates in Johnstown on Monday, Sept., 18, 2023.
A milk chocolate Pumpkin from Blaine Boring Chocolates.
A milk chocolate snowman from Blaine Boring chocolates.
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A Johnstown staple is enjoying the sweet taste of success.
Blaine Boring Chocolates, a gourmet confectionery established in 1945, offers milk chocolate candies, as well as dark semi-sweet chocolates and white chocolate pieces.
The candy store hand-dips its cherries, nuts, caramels, creams, meltaways and peanut butter specialties in premium chocolate.
Originally located on Fairfield Avenue in the West End section of Johnstown, the store has been located at 123 Market St. in downtown Johnstown for more than 20 years.
“We have a good product, and everyone loves the candy when they eat it,” said Mike McGowan, operations manager. “Everything we do here is very hands-on with a lot of labor-intensive items. We make it, we pack it, we label it and we ship it.”
The shop features more than 50 varieties of handcrafted candy, with peanut butter meltaways being the most popular with customers and the biggest seller. It also offers more than 35 flavors of fudge.
It still uses some of the original Blaine Boring Chocolates machinery, from chocolate mixers and melters to a chocolate depositor to a wooden enrober for coating and cooling of candy.
“To make our peanut butter meltaways, we start with our centers and melt our ingredients down in a two-pot boiling kettle and pour that onto a marble slab, and it sets overnight,” McGowan said.
“We come in the morning and cut it into four squares, and they go through a chocolate waterfall line to get covered. Somebody stands on the other side and ... writes a ‘P’ in the chocolate to personalize it.”
He said within the past six months, the store has used 10,000 pounds of chocolate making its sweet treats.
“Milk chocolate is a majority of what we use,” he said. “With dark chocolate, you either like it or you don’t, so that is hit-or-miss with us. Most of the time, when we do white chocolate, it’s for Easter time.”
The busiest times of year revolve around three holidays – Valentine’s Day, Easter and Christmas.
“That helps get us through the year,” McGowan said.
“We’re working on Christmas already. With Easter being early next year, we’ll probably start Easter before Christmas even gets here because we make our own eggs and do all the centers.”
A large part of the store is its wholesale business.
“Wholesale is probably 90% of our business,” McGowan said. “We ship through a local wholesaler, which gives the opportunity where we can be in stores from New York to Ohio to Maryland to West Virginia, and that helps us a lot, especially through the summers. We do chocolates, fudge and gummy items.”
Moving forward, he said, Blaine Boring hope to expand their wholesale reach.
“It’s a lot of grocery stores now, and that’s a good spot to be if you can get the shelf space and keep it going,” McGowan said.
Blaine Boring Chocolates also offers fundraising opportunities for schools and organizations.
“We do an Easter and Christmas fundraiser, and those do very well for us,” McGowan said. “We have molded chocolates, hand-dipped cherries and chocolate-covered Oreos. New this year, we’ve added 12 flavors of fudge.”
In addition, candy gift sets also are available.
McGowan said candy has been shipped all over the country from Florida to California and everywhere in between.
“People are using our website, and we see that pick up around the holidays,” he said.
The store employs 10 part-time workers.
“They do a great job for me, and they are a valuable part of the business,” McGowan said.
“We have employees with years of experience making candy.”
Linda DeFazio has been employed by Blaine Boring Chocolates for three years, but has more than 30 years of experience in the candy business as the owner of the former L&D Candies.
“We get a lot of repeat business because people are pleased with the product,” she said.
DeFazio said she does a little bit of everything, from making fudge to hand-dipping chocolates to packing products to educating newer employees.
“There’s a lot to learn about candy making,” she said. “I don’t consider this work; it’s pleasure. It’s something that I enjoy doing and I’m glad to be a help.”
Stores hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
For more information, call 814-539-6244 or visit www.bbchoc.com.
Kelly Urban is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. She can be reached at (814) 532-5073. Follow her on Twitter @KellyUrban25.
Leader: Mike McGowan, operations manager.
Location: 123 Market St., downtown Johnstown.
Products: More than 50 varieties of handcrafted candy, 35 flavors of fudge, gift sets, fundraising packages and wholesale opportunities.
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