Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeff Wilson.
Hi Jeff, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Our family purchased the Taffy Shop in 2013 and felt like it was a “sleeper” that had great upside potential. We slowly built the business as a “side hustle” for 10 years and then were able to go “full time” in 2023.
Saltwater taffy is a super unique candy as it holds so much nostalgia and positive memories. One of the most common phrases we hear is: “I remember seeing taffy being pulled at _______ location when I was younger”. People tie travel, memories, and adventure to saltwater taffy.
Our focus has been on building powerful new memories and introducing the younger generations to this nostalgic gem of candy. https://taffyshop.com/pages/history-of-taffy.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
They say that the shortest distance from point A to point B is a straight line. Our road has been anything but “straight”. There have been detours, exits, construction, delays, inclement weather, as well as amazing views, vistas, and breakthroughs.
The biggest challenge along the way has been dealing with limited resources in the form of time, capital, opportunities, etc. One evidence of such struggles is the fact that it took 10 years to dive into the business full-time. It required me to work a full-time job and then invest a portion of those earnings and whatever leftover time in the evenings and weekends I could muster, to grow and build a business that could support the family and our team.
With growth comes growing pains as well. Today, we sell more taffy in a week than we used to sell in a full year some 10 years ago. That has required us to expand in every area of the business. As an example, we have moved the business 6 times in the last 10 years (from the garage to our first warehouse, to multiple warehouses in Southern Utah). Each move presents challenges and opportunities…and we are especially grateful for the opportunities that the growth has afforded us.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We like to think of ourselves as advocates or champions of simpler times. Nostalgia with a twist…literally. Salt Water taffy is a classic, American-specific, candy that over the years had been relegated to obscurity. There are underlying industry issues that caused Saltwater Taffy to become commoditized.
Our goal has been to bring Salt Water taffy from obscurity and share it with a whole new consumer. Our initial focus was to move our taffy from the shores of Great Salt Lake (Saltair) to the shores of the internet. We ship hundreds of orders every day in addition to those that frequent our retail shop.
But we didn’t stop with just ecommerce. Our new retail storefront allows for in-person taffy-making classes called Taffyology where you can pull and make your taffy with your friends and family. New memories and experiences tied to taffy.
One of our key differentiators is that we focus on meeting the customers where they are. Meaning, that the customer can create their perfect assortment, and choose a design or bag for their special outing (think birthdays, celebrations, travel destinations, etc.).
People over personalization and customization and I believe that we do it better than most. Whether you’re shopping online or you are in our physical storefront, you get to choose your taffy adventure.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
For me, I’ve always loved adventure and exploration. One of my favorite childhood memories was traveling to Bear Lake with my grandparents. It felt like an adventure. On the trips, they would stop in Logan at a candy shop and spoil me with a treat or my favorite ice cream. There was something magical about those trips and memories. Such good memories with two very special people.
That is probably a big driving factor as to why we own the Taffy Shop. At one point we had a marketing campaign that revolved around a bag of our taffy “riding shotgun” on life’s greatest adventures. Adventure + Taffy = building favorite memories.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.taffyshop.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taffyshopdotcom/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/taffyshopdotcom
- Other: https://taffyshop.com/collections/taffyology
