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Dave knew that Blair Candy exemplified exactly what we were looking for: a family-owned brick-and-mortar company that has added an Internet component to grow their business.
Blair Candy is a wholesaler and distributor of candy, tobacco, and paper products in Altoona, PA. Patrick Dandrea, who eventually enlisted the help of his sons Ron and Terry, established it in 1940.
Today, the Blair Candy Company is owned and operated by Patrickīs grandchildren: Patrick, Terry, Pam, and Ron. While they continue to use many of the same business methods practiced by their Grandfather more than sixty years ago, they have also turned to new technologies to help keep their company successful in the 21st century.
Blair Candy (http:www.BlairCandy.com) has been online for over a year now. The impetus for getting the company online came from Pam Macharola, who was in charge of PR and did much of the companyīs buying. She offered to work with the design firm to oversee the production of the site, and now serves as the siteīs webmaster, in addition to the other hats she wears.
For over half a century, the company had been thriving. Why, then, were they interested in expanding on the Internet?
"It was a two-fold thing," explains Blairīs VP Terry Dandrea. "We wanted to get our name out there. We had an informational section on the site which explained our business, our delivery radius, and we definitely wanted to get that information out to as many people as possible."
"At the same time, we wanted ordering. We started out small, with a few items that we thought would be unique: some old time candy, candy you donīt see out in stores anymore."
