Celebrating the 10th Annual National Veterans Small Business Week (#NVSBW23) highlighting a local veteran-owned small business with a recipe for sweet success.
Inspired by an old military term that provided a vision during a deployment to Afghanistan in 2008, owner Chris Guerrette of Lickee’s and Chewy’s Candies & Creamery has made this vision a reality at his unique and creative candy shop in downtown Dover. Guerrette, a retired U.S. Air Force intelligence officer is now savoring the sweetness of success, one treat at a time.
Guerrette decided to follow his dreams when a small neighborhood candy store went up for sale shortly after his military retirement in 2014. At the beginning of his business journey, Guerrette worked hard to bring attention to and grow sales in his small 500sf shop but soon realized the company’s growth potential as products were flying off the shelves and space was getting tight in his existing space. He dug out his notes from his SBA-sponsored Boots-to-Business training program and began working with an advisor from the SBDC and local bank BankProv to create and build an entirely new nearly 5000sf candy, ice cream, and chocolate destination business in downtown Dover. He found the perfect location and signed a lease for his current space in 2017 which opened in late 2018. Soon his vision expanded from a small retailer of jellybeans, chocolates, and ice cream to a one-of-a-kind magical experience unique to the area.
He created magical characters for his brand, featuring Lickee the Knight and Chewy the Dragon who are from the “Kingdom of Caramelot”. He curated a very large and unique collection of confections, many of which he became familiar with during his assignments and deployments around the world, developed several house-made gourmet chocolates and caramels, and launched their now infamous giant Kingshakes to make Lickee’s & Chewy’s a popular destination dessert stop for families and couples from all over New England. The shop offers hundreds and hundreds of colorful candies and ice cream options all within a unique themed location featuring a medieval fairy-tale land with a dragon’s keep, a fairy village with fairy lights, and a large mosaic table made from candy.
As plans develop for the future, Guerrette already rented another 5300sf of space in the mill and begun building a new chocolate factory/production facility and warehouse/shipping area bringing their total space to over 10,000sf.
So, if you’re up for an adventure to enjoy some sweet candy treats and magical moments with Guerrette’s small business success visit https://lickeesnchewys.com/.
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