The store front sign reads Sweet Essentials, but when you see the name on the back door awning, you know that when you enter, you’re taking a step back in time.
“Sydney Boggs was a candy maker that started his business there at 7 and Woodward in 1936, eventually he wanted to retire so he trained Mr. Skidmore and he took it over sometime in the 60′s” Lisa Peasley, Owner of Sydney Bogg Sweet Essentials, told “Live in the D’s” April Morton.
Those familiar with the Sydney Bogg candy brand knows the candy maker built his reputation by using the finest quality ingredients. Creating delicious candy by hand is something Peasley knows first hand. She worked at the store as a teen in the 70′s at first doing odd jobs, but eventually making her way into the kitchen.
“By the time I was maybe early 20′s I was hand dipping doing some of the hand dipping and things like that,” said Peasley.
In the 1980s, the business went up for auction after Mr. Skidmore passed away. After it was unsuccessfully run by another company, the business went bankrupted in early 2000, but the demand for the goodies were still there.
With Peasley having the knowledge and recipes, she started back making the famous candy along with her sister and brother-in-law, but before long they outgrew the space in their home. “We have to get a building, so went to the bank, got a loan and here we are in Berkley,” Peasley said. Now, 18 years later, Peasley and her brother-in-law Gary are still whipping up those Sydney Bogg recipes made famous over 8 decades earlier, and using most of the original equipment.
April Morton took a trip to the store located on 12 mile in Berkley for a lesson in candy making. To see April in action and for the full interview, click the video above.