In the production room at New Kensington’s Catoris Candies, owner John Gentile flipped through a small, yellowed notepad of candy recipes.
Most of the scribbled instructions have been followed since the shop’s opening 100 years ago, he said.
Still, Gentile often takes creative liberties in developing new sweets, especially variations of the shop’s most popular item — chocolate turtles.
The creative freedom keeps the job fun, even after 18 years as owner, he said.
“I just like to do it, and I come up with new things,” he said.
For its 100th anniversary, the shop on Fifth Avenue won’t be putting on frills and is actually winding down for its summer slow season.
“We’re just doing our own thing,” Gentile said.
During the holiday rush from September to Easter, the shop usually has about eight employees.
In the hotter months though, Gentile mans the candy counter alone, only bringing in extra hands for custom orders.
Gentile, 65, who grew up in New Kensington, remembers visiting the store as a kid, but its story starts long before that, he said.
History
The shop was opened as a basement venture by Louis Catoris in 1926.
“He lost the business in a gambling debt,” Gentile said, reflecting on the shop’s storied history.
Gentile said it was then owned by the Mannarino family, who were known to be involved in the local mafia.
He bought it in 2008 from the Mannarinos.
“There’s a wonderful history to this place, and I’m proud to own it,” Gentile said.
It still has some holdovers from those days, including a one-way mirror behind the register, a peep hole on a second-floor door and some old poker tables which are now in storage, he said.
In the production room, employees still use machinery from the early 1900s to make candy.
To this day, Gentile said, customers reminisce on the storefront’s background.
Adjusting to modern times
The shop has to balance tradition with modern changes, including aging customers and shifting taste buds.
“If a young person sees a fruit nut, they don’t want it,” Gentile said.
Fruit Nuts are dried bricks of, you guessed it, fruit and nuts, a popular sweet in the mid 1900s.
One thing to last the ages though, is quality, Gentile said.
That includes not blending chocolate, a practice of mixing lower quality product into a batch to extend its use, which Gentile said is becoming more common with large-scale candy production.
It also means making everything in house.
“We’re old-school here, we roast our own nuts, we make our own cream fillings,” he said.
However, tradition doesn’t stop experimentation.
Gentile said he is often finding new spins on typical candies, especially turtles, which he often tries to creatively name, such as the “Kelly T Turtle” — a reference to the shop’s longtime manager Kelly Guerrini.
The chocolate treat is made with roasted and salted pecans.
Not all of his creations are hits though, he said, reflecting on a Hawaiian inspired turtle with dried mango, coconut and macadamia nuts that just didn’t sell well.
The business of candy
Though New Kensington has experienced a business boon in the past five years, Gentile said revitalization perks haven’t spilled through the candy shop’s front door because much of the downtown scene is central to bars and restaurants.
He said he believes more retail locations would bring more daytime, walk-in customers.
Right now, the shop relies mostly on corporate orders and cross-country shipping.
“Almost everyday we have packages going all over the country,” Gentile said.
This year for Easter, Gentile made five 52-pound solid chocolate bunnies that companies can buy to auction at corporate events.
Three of them have already sold for $1,500 each, he said.
Still, the shop keeps its glass display cases stocked, even in the slower seasons, for passing customers.
When Gentile bought Catoris Candies in 2008, it was after running several other business ventures, including delis, butcher shops, bars and restaurants.
Right before the candy shop, he owned Margaritaville in Pittsburgh’s South Side — an experience he said was “off the hook.”
Margaritaville closed in 2014.
“Wherever I thought I could have a business, I just tried it,” he said.
Gentile didn’t know how to make candy, but he always liked chocolate. When the opportunity presented itself, he got into confections and has stuck with it longer than his previous businesses, he said.
“I enjoy this because I enjoy chocolate,” he said. “It’s a nice, solid business.”