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Photos by Erin Nelson.
Ruby Martin, 4, looks through the display case at the Birmingham Candy Company as she picks out chocolates for her birthday at the new shop in Crestline Village.
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Photos by Erin Nelson.
Wayne Bolden, owner of the Birmingham Candy Company, dips chocolate caramel apples in crushed Butterfingers.
Wayne Bolden began his candy career under the tutelage of a confectioner in Savannah, Georgia.
Before his foray in the candy industry, he started out working in computer science.
“In the early 2000s, I moved from Virginia to Savannah and needed to find a job,” Bolden said. “Savannah is not a very tech-savvy city, and I needed a job change. I got on with a company during the holidays, and I just started falling in love with the whole process [of candy making].”
Bolden’s wife, who is from Hoover, was attending Savannah College of Art and Design when the two met. After they were married, they decided to move back to Birmingham, and Bolden knew he wanted to start his own candy company.
His wife was supportive of the endeavor, and they got their start with a booth at Pepper Place. The couple continued to run their business through pop-up shops until they were offered a more permanent space in the Pizitz Food Hall in 2018.
“We’ve been at the Pizitz Food Hall ever since, and now we’ve been able to expand to Crestline,” he said.
Bolden shared that when they first started, they were the very first company in the entire Birmingham-metro area that actually did chocolate and candy.
“We decided to keep it as local as possible and tried to source as many ingredients as locally as possible,” he said.
They dabbled in online sales during their initial opening but did not have the capacity to handle both online and in-person sales. As they are working to get the Crestline location up and running, he hopes they will have the ability to add online sales to their business.
“The response [to our business] has been phenomenal,” Bolden said. “I think that going into the communities during the beginning of our company through farmer’s markets and such was helpful. When we finally did have a permanent location we could say, ‘Hey, you can come visit us here anytime.’”
Bolden said that having the Crestline location is opening up opportunities for them to expand the company beyond selling confections.
“Not only do we want to do in-person sales, we want to do kids’ parties and classes for adults, similar to painting classes but with chocolate and wine. We’re going to concentrate on Crestline for right now and see what we can do,” Bolden said.
Bolden gives credit to his staff for helping their business survive the pandemic.
“Providing a quality product as well as superb customer service, treating our staff like family, letting them know that they are part of a growing business and we want them to grow with us helped us survive,” Bolden said. “Our property managers at the Pizitz Food Hall were also helpful in supporting us.”
Birmingham Candy Company is known for their caramel, according to Bolden, who said that it is different from other caramels because it doesn’t “stick to your teeth.” He also said that customers love their fudge, especially their seasonal flavors.
So what are his favorite treats to indulge in?
“I love to eat our dark chocolate sea salt caramel bites,” he said. “One of my favorite things to make is our fudge. We have a lot of varieties, and they are really fun to make.”
Birmingham Candy Company is located at 81 Church Street in Crestline Village.
For more information, visit birminghamcandycompany.com.
