I thought I was in heaven that day I first ventured into that marvelous store called Lagomarcino's. I remember tightly holding my mother's hand as we walked up to the storefront of Lagomarcino Confectionery in Moline, IL. It was summertime and my Mom and I were going downtown to have lunch with my Dad. I was not prepared for what I was about to encounter when we entered the store.

My eyes must have gotten as big as saucers-I had never in my short four-year-old life seen so much candy. I can't even tell you what caught my eye first. It might have been the glossy red anise hard candy. The hand-dipped chocolates of all size and shapes, or the rock candy in every color of the rainbow.

My Mom had to drag me past that glorious candy counter back to the solid mahogany booth where my Dad had been seated. I can't tell you what I had to eat, if anything, because the next thing that caught my eye were members of the Lagomarcino family dishing up homemade ice cream sundaes behind the luncheonette counter. I must have eaten something or I wouldn't have been allowed to order what was to become my favorite sundae, a Bachelor's Kiss. That fabulous concoction was made with one scoop of homemade chocolate ice cream with marshmallow topping and one scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream with fudge topping (The original hot fudge recipe which was purchased from a candy salesman in the 1920s for $24, is still used today and will be featured in Gourmet magazine in October). Bananas lined the sides of the sundae dish and real whipped cream floated on top of the ice cream and toppings. It was crowned with two maraschino cherries. And it was that day that I first met the "Michelangelo of Candyland," Tom Lagomarcino, a name he was affectionately called around town.

Celebrating 90 Years

This year the Lagomarcino family will celebrate 90 years of dishing out some of the best confections in the Midwest. It was back in 1908 that Angelo Lagomarcino, an immigrant from Northern Italy, founded the store with his wife Luigia and their children Charlie, Mary and Tom. During the depression Charlie purchased the recipes and equipment from the closing Meadowbrook Candy Co. Charlie and his cousin Joe Schenone learned the art of working with chocolate and Mary packed the candy boxes, ordered retail merchandise and cooked for the luncheonette. Tom was the ice-cream maker. After the death of his brother and sister, Tom and his wife Betsy continued to operate the business. In 1981 tom's daughter Beth joined the business after teaching for 10 years and was later joined by her brother Tom Jr., who now operates the new confectionery store and soda fountain in the Village of East davenport, Iowa with the help of their sister Lisa, while Beth and her mother Betsy operate the Moline location. While the new store across the Mississippi River in Iowa ahs tried to replicate the feeling of an old soda fountain, the Moline store still has the original Mahogany booths, Tiffany-style lamps and hexagon terrazzo floor. The original cigar and candy cases are still in use today. Tom says his father Angelo considered remodeling in the '50s but it was too expensive so Angelo dropped the idea. He adds, "Now we're unique. By never changing, we'll always remain different. We have a piece of the past and people relish and want to hang on to the past. Michelango's Candyland

"Chocolate candy was always popular," says Tom but until the 1930's it was rare to be able to purchase chocolate in the summer. "We made chocolate from October until April and the shut down," Tom remembers. Because of the weather constraints, Lagomarcino's started out making hard candy, such as candy canes, red anise candy, horehound and rock candy. But high gloss hard candy "wouldn't stand the humidity and heat," says Tom, referring to Midwest summers. So making candy in those early years and keeping it shiny and from sticking together was a real challenge. It was in 1936 that Lagomarcino's became one of the first businesses in the country to install air conditioning. But the really big improvement for Lagomarcino's candy business was the advent of refrigerators in the early '40s. This is when candy sales really started to soar and sweeten up the bottom line on a year-round bases.

Even with today's refined refrigeration and air conditioning, the company's number-one selling candy, Chocolate Sponge is not made during the summer because heat and humidity affect its crispness. "We can't keep up with sponge in the winter," says Tom. "It's so unique. I haven't seen any to compare it to in my entire life" - which is saying a lot since Tom has been in the candy business for more than eight decades. The second-best selling candy is English toffee, which is available year round. A close third is Pecan Dainties, a take-off on DeMet's turtles.

The most popular box of candy Lagomarcino's sells is an assortment of 13 creams. During the depression a three-pound box of creams sold for $1. Today that same box retails for $38.85.

Christmas is the number one candy holiday followed by Easter, and Valentine's Day. Lagomarcino's offers "tiers" or stacks of candy boxes to appeal to every price point. A two-tier stack sells for $19.95 and a four-tier for $42.95. Many different items can be paired together such as nuts, cookies and chocolates. The Chocolate Lovers Delight includes sponge, toffees, truffles and dainties. For Easter, Lagomarcino's is famous for its old European art of casting chocolate eggs from antique molds. The chocolate egg shell is filled with individually wrapped homemade chocolates or candies. Eight varieties of eggs are offered, ranging in size from 14 ounces to 3 ¾ pounds, with three containing children's candy such as pastel M&M's, tiny jelly beans and bunny corn. Adult versions contain assorted chocolates including pecan dainties. Beth describes this candy delicacy as, "a box of candy and you get to eat the box."

One of the biggest problems being a small retailer, according to Beth is finding and keeping good vendors. Several times the store has lost suppliers because it can't meet minimum order requirements. "Where on earth could I ever store 10,000 Valentine's day heart-shaped candy boxes?" she asks.

Lagomarcino's purchases all the candy they do not make themselves from a distributor o r the Herman Goelitz Candy Co., Fairfield, Calif. Beth says, "Once we started with Goelitz we stayed with them. They have provided a wealth of information as a supplier. Their quality is very, very good and they have a diversity of products."

Marketing and Promotion

For Valentine's Day a large sandwich board is placed outside on the sidewalk in front of the store and the days are counted down until the big day. The day after Valentine's day the board reads, "It's never too late!"

One idea that was an "expensive venture" was opening a candy kiosk at the local shopping center during Christmas. The overhead was "horrible", says Beth. But the venture was not a total loss because it allowed the Lagomarcinos to test the Iowa market which eventually helped them decide to open a second location in 1997 since their candy had received rave reviews at the holiday kiosk. One way that Beth came up with to capitalize on the history of the business was putting an old logo on the current candy boxes (the date of the logo is unknown but the phone number was only four digits). "We wanted a sense of the old," says Beth. She wanted to portray a sense of nostalgia that would remind customers of the store's long-term existence.

Lagomarcino's does seasonal advertising for Christmas, Easter and Valentine's Day. For their 90th Anniversary they have been running a "thank-you" ad in the local newspaper and inviting customers to come celebrate at the soda fountain. They are using an old photo of the Lagomarcino family photographed in the original store in the ad.

After more than eight decades of involvement with the family business, life is sweet for the Michelangelo of Candyland--there's now a second location and one of his sons and two daughters are carrying on the traditions his father started in 1908.

Reprinted by permission: Talcott Publishing © FANCY FOOD & CULINARY PRODUCTS, September 1998