BOISE, ID – Valentine’s Day is tomorrow. It’s a holiday that many retailers count on for much of their business. More than $18 billion was spent nationwide last year according to industry analysts at IBISWORLD. In Boise, one local chocolatier looks forward to Valentine’s Day.
Gift buying during the winter holidays is essential for retailers. But Valentine’s Day isn’t too far behind. Curtis Nokleby owns Lee’s Candies in Boise.
Curtis Nokleby: “Christmas is like the farmer and his crop. That’s when I harvest my crop. Valentine’s is a big time, yeah. If I didn’t have Valentines, Christmas, Easter, I wouldn’t be in business.”
Nokleby says Valentine’s is second only to Christmas in terms of sales. He says it probably accounts for 20 percent of his total business. According to IBISWorld, about 14 percent of the $18 billion spent on Valentine’s Day went to candy and chocolates last year.
There’s a steady stream of customers at Lee’s. They’ll see candy prices similar to last year’s. That’s even though ingredient costs have gone up.
Curtis Nokleby: “I haven’t raised prices like I should. I just keep absorbing, you know, try to give people a fair price for a top quality product.”
Nokleby says he’s never seen ingredient prices as high as there are now in his 35 years of candy-making experience. Consumers spent on average about $125 a piece on Valentine’s Day in 2011.
Copyright 2012 Boise State Public Radio