WEBVTT - Snacking on Rocky Mountain Chocolate 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:06.240 Frank Craale made a decent living as a tech guy 0:00:06.240 --> 0:00:09.320 in California, but he and his wife craved a sweet 0:00:09.360 --> 0:00:12.040 life in a small town, so they pack up and 0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:16.159 opened the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in Colorado. And the 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:20.079 early days of this company's history were tempered with bitter sweetness. 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:23.840 Despite positive strides, a combination of under capitalization and a 0:00:23.920 --> 0:00:26.360 lack of no how meant this company spent many years 0:00:26.400 --> 0:00:30.040 just struggling to stay afloat. How did Frank prove that 0:00:30.280 --> 0:00:33.920 the candy man can Let's find out? This is Rocky 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:46.960 Mountain Chocolate Factory on the brink. Hey everybody, I'm Jonathan 0:00:47.000 --> 0:00:51.040 Stricklin and I'm Aerial Casting. So this is a pretty 0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:55.480 sweet subject we're covering today. Yeah, it's a candy store 0:00:56.080 --> 0:00:59.360 and one that has made some big strides and yet 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:02.560 I never heard of it before. Yeah, it's actually one 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:06.720 that has become one of the largest candy companies in 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:09.240 the world. And that's saying something when you consider that 0:01:09.360 --> 0:01:12.600 it's it's relatively young compared to something like good Iva 0:01:12.920 --> 0:01:17.800 Yeah and se Sees Candies. Yeah. So we're really going 0:01:17.920 --> 0:01:20.759 to explore the story behind this because it's it's one 0:01:20.760 --> 0:01:23.080 of those. That's sort of remarkable in the sense that 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:25.000 a lot of these stories we try to do on 0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:28.360 the brink lead up to a single big moment that 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:30.440 you can point out and say this was the maker break. 0:01:31.040 --> 0:01:35.040 In this case, we're talking about a company that could 0:01:35.040 --> 0:01:39.280 have gone out of business for much of its early history, 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:45.160 and only through perseverance and maybe some stubbornness, uh and 0:01:45.280 --> 0:01:49.720 perhaps not knowing any better, the company was able to succeed. So, oh, 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:53.280 spoiler alert, this company succeeds. Yes, and you know just 0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:57.840 started off. I'll say they have an enormous fifty square 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:01.080 foot factory now in Colorado where they started, and they 0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:04.200 started off with one tiny little candy shops. So let's 0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:06.880 kind of get into that. As we said with the introduction, 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:09.679 it all started with Frank Krill, and he was a 0:02:09.720 --> 0:02:14.280 tech guy. Yeah he uh. We came out of San Diego, California. 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:17.960 His mom worked in retail, his dad was working in 0:02:18.360 --> 0:02:21.560 the aerospace industry. He would buy parts. He was like 0:02:21.600 --> 0:02:26.320 a in that supply chain section for aerospace. So Craile 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:30.359 goes to college. After college, he ends up joining the army. 0:02:30.600 --> 0:02:32.760 And this is in an era where we have the 0:02:32.800 --> 0:02:36.799 Vietnam War, he gets deployed to Okinawa and there he 0:02:36.840 --> 0:02:41.600 would work in an army intelligence unit. So for the 0:02:41.720 --> 0:02:45.960 second time, I think in the Brink storyline, we are 0:02:46.040 --> 0:02:49.639 covering a tech guy who has links with the c 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:52.799 i A. The first time would be with Oracle And also, 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:54.959 you know somebody who went and worked for the army 0:02:55.000 --> 0:02:58.400 and then did a complete turnaround afterwards. So he worked 0:02:58.400 --> 0:03:00.600 for the CIA when he came back from the Vietnam War. 0:03:01.040 --> 0:03:03.040 And then he launched his own company called c n 0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:05.959 I Data Processing in nineteen seventy two, and they did 0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:10.040 billing for cable companies, cable television companies, which were just 0:03:10.160 --> 0:03:13.120 starting to really become a thing in those early seventies. 0:03:13.600 --> 0:03:15.519 So he was essentially saying, well, this is going to 0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:17.200 be a big business. So what I'm gonna do is 0:03:17.200 --> 0:03:20.639 I'm going to build a company that works in the 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:23.160 background of that industry. So this was not, you know, 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:27.040 a consumer facing company. This was something that ran the 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:31.280 back end system, the building system for these larger cable companies. 0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:33.320 And you know, he actually did pretty well. He was 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:35.960 making a decent living, but he and his wife, they 0:03:36.000 --> 0:03:38.280 wanted to start a family and they wanted to raise 0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:40.280 their family in a small town. Yeah, they wanted to 0:03:40.320 --> 0:03:44.120 have sort of that idyllic Americana approach that we always 0:03:44.120 --> 0:03:46.880 think of. We associate that with like Walt Disney, who 0:03:46.960 --> 0:03:51.240 had that same sort of fascination with small town America. Yes, 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:54.320 and and you know, opening this candy store was a 0:03:54.320 --> 0:03:57.280 part of that idyllic picture. It would turn out that way. 0:03:57.680 --> 0:04:00.560 But when he when he made this decision, like first 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:03.120 they settled on the community, and they went about this 0:04:03.160 --> 0:04:06.040 in a way that is totally backwards from how I 0:04:06.040 --> 0:04:08.440 would do it. They started off by finding a little 0:04:08.480 --> 0:04:11.920 town they liked. It was Durango, Colorado, and they had 0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:15.520 a population reports of area between twelve thousand and fifteen 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:19.680 thousand people at that time. So we're talking like thee 0:04:19.720 --> 0:04:23.119 at this point. Yes, So they moved there with they 0:04:23.160 --> 0:04:25.320 intend that this is where they're going to start their family, 0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:28.520 to really kind of start this new chapter of their lives. 0:04:29.200 --> 0:04:32.480 And then and only then, this crail thinking all right, well, 0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:34.480 I need to come up with some sort of business 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:36.760 I can do while I'm here, because I'm going to 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:40.880 end up divorcing myself, like to to leave the company 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:42.919 I found it. Yeah, and I want to start a 0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:44.680 business that will help me get to know the other 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:47.120 people in this town. Part of the draw of a 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:51.040 small town is knowing all your neighbors and having that community, 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:54.279 having that that sort of Andy Griffith show kind of 0:04:54.400 --> 0:04:58.080 relationship with everybody. Yeah, and so he got to the 0:04:58.080 --> 0:05:00.520 town and he started asking around what sort of businesses 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:02.240 do you need? And the one thing that everybody greed 0:05:02.279 --> 0:05:05.320 on was that they needed a car walk car wash. Yeah, 0:05:05.640 --> 0:05:08.120 we're gonna have a little disco moment here in the office, 0:05:08.120 --> 0:05:10.640 but you guys just keep on going down. Yeah, we're 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:13.240 doing our little chair dance. It's about as lane as 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:17.440 you can imagine. So he's not exactly totally psyched about 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:19.200 that idea. He's like, well, that might there might be 0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:22.479 a need for that, but I can't really get passionate 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:27.560 about a car wash. And then some other guy happens 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:32.920 to mention that there's perhaps another opportunity besides scrubbing down cars, 0:05:32.960 --> 0:05:35.919 and that would be a candy store. Now, let me 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:38.560 just say, no matter where I moved, I'd be like, 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:41.040 we need another candy store. Yeah, I would be one 0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:43.039 of those people who, if I lived next to a 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:46.159 candy store, would say we need a candy store. Well, 0:05:46.279 --> 0:05:49.120 he thought, that's something I could really get behind. I 0:05:49.240 --> 0:05:52.560 like candy. Keep in mind Mr Crale was not a 0:05:52.600 --> 0:05:55.800 candy maker and had never thought of being one before. Yeah, 0:05:55.800 --> 0:05:59.080 he had never even remotely studied anything about chocolate tearing 0:05:59.240 --> 0:06:01.960 or anything like that. He had had no experience there. 0:06:01.960 --> 0:06:06.600 But he thought, this is an opportunity and Durango, Colorado 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:09.600 is a big tourist destination. Will talk a little bit 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:11.960 more about that in a second. So he thought, well, 0:06:12.080 --> 0:06:15.240 there is the possibility that that tourism industry could help 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:18.840 make a business like that flourish. And at first he 0:06:18.880 --> 0:06:22.800 wasn't even thinking necessarily about making his own company. He 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:26.000 was looking at the possibility of opening up a store 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:30.400 that would be related to an existing candy company's chocolate season. 0:06:30.520 --> 0:06:34.400 Yes he's Candy Sez Candy, but they didn't franchise at 0:06:34.440 --> 0:06:37.000 that time. Yeah, so he couldn't just become a franchise 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:41.160 operator because that was not an option. So instead he thought, well, 0:06:41.200 --> 0:06:43.920 I guess I'll do this myself. And at the time 0:06:44.160 --> 0:06:47.560 he was drawing about six thousand dollars per month from 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:50.320 his interests in the company he had co founded that 0:06:50.560 --> 0:06:53.120 N and I, which was enough for him to cover 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:57.400 his costs of living and everything, but not exactly the 0:06:57.440 --> 0:07:01.320 startup capital you would use to launch a and new business. No, no, 0:07:01.520 --> 0:07:05.560 So he also roped into fronts or he got them 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:08.359 to invest in the company, Jim Hilton and Mark Leapinski. 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:11.760 Hilton at least had made fudge in the past, yes, 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:15.080 so he came with the deep expertise in gandy making. 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:17.680 He was at least a hobbyist. And then kill also 0:07:17.720 --> 0:07:20.280 took out a second mortgage on his house. He borrowed 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:23.440 fifty thousand dollars in capital to start his little candy store. 0:07:23.600 --> 0:07:26.600 And so he starts looking for a location. And like 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:30.680 I said, Durango, Colorado is a big tourist destination, and 0:07:30.720 --> 0:07:34.080 part of that is because Durango is on a rail line, 0:07:34.160 --> 0:07:39.040 the Durango and Silverton narrow Gauge Railroad. So he wanted 0:07:39.120 --> 0:07:41.680 a location close to that because that would be where 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:44.520 all the tourists were. But that also was some of 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:47.960 the more expensive real estate in the town. So it 0:07:48.000 --> 0:07:53.440 would cost him thirty dollars to secure that location. It's 0:07:53.520 --> 0:07:56.280 over half his capital right now. Just so that you 0:07:56.280 --> 0:07:58.200 guys know what this is all about. In case you're 0:07:58.200 --> 0:08:01.320 not familiar with narrow gauge railroad. The name kind of 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:04.200 tells you what it means. It means that the actual 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:07.520 width of the railroad track is more narrow than what 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:09.720 you would see as the standard. The standard, by the way, 0:08:09.760 --> 0:08:14.200 in case you're curious too, it's four ft eight and 0:08:14.240 --> 0:08:18.080 a half inches or one d thirty five millimeters, So 0:08:18.360 --> 0:08:20.920 this was more narrow than that. And you can get 0:08:20.920 --> 0:08:24.640 tickets to ride on a train on the Durango in 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:29.360 Silverton narrow Gage Railroad. They use original equipment that dates 0:08:29.360 --> 0:08:32.120 to the late nineteenth century, so we're talking like eighteen 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:35.160 eighties era train and you can ride on it. They 0:08:35.160 --> 0:08:40.200 even have a presidential car where you can ride in 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:43.760 luxury or you can ride in first class or you 0:08:43.760 --> 0:08:47.599 know steerage. Essentially, you're shoveling coal into the furnace to 0:08:47.720 --> 0:08:50.480 make the train go. I exaggerate for a fact, but 0:08:50.559 --> 0:08:53.800 this is a big tourist attraction, and so we thought, well, 0:08:53.800 --> 0:08:57.199 locating my candy shop near that would mean that people 0:08:57.200 --> 0:08:59.280 who get off the train who are walking around to 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:02.240 look at this pick shrested town are gonna see this 0:09:02.840 --> 0:09:06.000 little town candy shop and what could be more charming? 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:10.600 And people who ride trains probably gone and want some. Yeah, 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:12.880 I know I do. So he bought his location, but 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:16.560 he's still in San Diego, and uh he starts looking 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:19.520 around for things to furnish his shop with. So they 0:09:19.520 --> 0:09:22.760 get some antique scales to decorate with. They get these giant, 0:09:22.840 --> 0:09:25.120 heavy marble slabs to make fudge on. They want to 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:27.760 make their candy live at least their fudge in front 0:09:27.760 --> 0:09:30.439 of people, to entertain folks. This is not an uncommon 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:33.120 thing in candy stores. I know down in Savannah, Georgia, 0:09:33.120 --> 0:09:35.719 you've got the Savannah Candy Company. Oh yeah, you've got 0:09:35.760 --> 0:09:39.360 tons of little chocolate coming, like Helen, Georgia. Also, like 0:09:39.640 --> 0:09:42.280 all the little touristy towns in the area, you know, 0:09:42.320 --> 0:09:45.800 they dip their own apples and they pull their taffy, 0:09:45.880 --> 0:09:50.080 and some of them make fudge. It's very visually arresting, 0:09:50.120 --> 0:09:52.800 like you see it and you and you are fascinated. 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:54.839 And also it just looks delicious. I mean you think 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:58.000 about like Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory and those montages. 0:09:58.040 --> 0:09:59.520 It's that kind of thing. And also you get the 0:09:59.559 --> 0:10:02.040 smell of the cooking candy, which just makes you hungry. 0:10:02.080 --> 0:10:04.400 And you learned the process too, which can be really cool, 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:06.600 like the fact that they use marble to help with 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:10.280 the temperature and and the moisture of the stuff they're 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:13.600 working with. So it was a clever idea. It was 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:16.640 one that other candy shops had used successfully, and so 0:10:16.840 --> 0:10:19.120 it showed that Crail had been paying attention. Yes, Now, 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:20.920 one of the other things that he bought in San 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:24.760 Diego to bring with him was chocolates to sell. Yes, 0:10:25.080 --> 0:10:28.800 not fudge, but actually pre made chocolates, because he didn't 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:30.920 know how to do that. Yeah, and neither did his 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:33.160 buddy Jim, who had made fudge, he didn't know how 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:34.760 to make chocolate. So they bought it from a guy 0:10:34.840 --> 0:10:38.520 named Everett Seeley who operated a candy store over in 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:41.200 San Diego, and a few other suppliers like a division 0:10:41.280 --> 0:10:44.599 of Guitard Yard. I've never known how to pronounce that 0:10:45.040 --> 0:10:47.840 quick company, but I do like their chocolate. So they 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:53.000 have moved to Durango and they're getting ready for the 0:10:53.040 --> 0:10:55.920 grand opening of their store. They had decided that they 0:10:55.960 --> 0:11:00.280 were going to open on Memorial Day in nine and 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:02.760 they're they're they're ready to set up. They've secured the 0:11:02.800 --> 0:11:07.080 location and their buddy Jim is literally on the road 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:11.960 driving from California to Colorado hauling marble and chocolate. What 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:16.000 could possibly go wrong? Well, we'll tell you right after 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:29.640 this brief moment to thank our sponsors. Okay, so we've 0:11:29.760 --> 0:11:33.559 established the locations there, the chocolate and the marble are 0:11:33.600 --> 0:11:37.080 on their way. Jim has got the secrets of fudge 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:40.400 locked away in his head. Almost immediately, things don't quite 0:11:40.440 --> 0:11:44.680 go according to plan. No, so very first, Jim gets 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:48.679 a flat like a flat tire, which doesn't keep him 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:51.760 from getting to Colorado, but it does get him there late. Yes, 0:11:51.880 --> 0:11:54.200 so they were going to open Memorial Day weekend. He 0:11:54.280 --> 0:11:58.480 gets there at about nine pm local time Friday night. Yeah, 0:11:58.559 --> 0:12:01.760 and they really tough it through. They burned the midnight 0:12:01.840 --> 0:12:04.800 oil and set up shop that night. Yep. They get 0:12:04.840 --> 0:12:07.400 everything ready to go and then they turn in late 0:12:07.480 --> 0:12:12.079 late late that night, and then they oversleep. Yeah, they 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:14.840 don't wake up quite on time to get everything ready 0:12:14.840 --> 0:12:17.280 to go for opening. Now I'll say like oversleep. I 0:12:17.280 --> 0:12:19.360 know on the weekend, I like to sleep very very 0:12:19.440 --> 0:12:24.360 late sometimes, but they overslept to walking nine am. So 0:12:24.679 --> 0:12:28.720 then they get to the store and uh, they encounter 0:12:28.920 --> 0:12:31.600 a second issue, which is that Jim, who had made 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:35.160 fudge had never made a batch larger than six pounds 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:37.760 in his life, and that was gonna be too little 0:12:38.120 --> 0:12:40.559 for it. For it, even for your first day, you 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:43.679 gotta need more than six pounds of hudge. Also, he 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:46.520 had never made fudge at an altitude of six thousand, 0:12:46.520 --> 0:12:50.520 five hundred twelve feet, which spoiler alert is the altitude 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:53.400 of Durango, Colorado. Yes, and you know, I like to 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:56.560 bake personally, and I like to make candy, and that 0:12:56.640 --> 0:12:59.400 altitude and humidity in the air and all that really 0:12:59.480 --> 0:13:01.160 can men see you up if you don't plan for 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:03.480 Oh yeah, no, I am reminded of the time my 0:13:03.559 --> 0:13:07.720 dad made an incredible homemade fudge. It's been years since 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:09.839 he's done it. Dad, if you're listening to this, make 0:13:09.920 --> 0:13:13.720 me some fudge. But I remember once when he decided 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:17.400 to turn his fudge making skills to divinity. And if 0:13:17.440 --> 0:13:19.280 you don't know what divinity is, folks, you've got to 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:22.120 come down to the southeast. Well, we'll treat you. But 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:26.400 his divinity did not take into account the temperature and humidity, 0:13:26.440 --> 0:13:30.880 and we ended up with divinity flavored hockey pucks. They 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:34.040 were like little frisbees. Now, to make fudge at a 0:13:34.120 --> 0:13:37.560 high altitude. This is something that Jim would learn through 0:13:37.720 --> 0:13:40.480 bitter experience, might be sweet experience, because it was fudge. 0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:44.000 You have to decrease the amount of time you actually 0:13:44.040 --> 0:13:48.000 cook the fudge because liquid will evaporate off of your 0:13:48.200 --> 0:13:51.320 cooking mixture much more quickly at higher altitudes than they 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:54.680 would at sea level. So general rule of thumb for 0:13:54.800 --> 0:13:58.080 all you prospective fudge makers out there is that you 0:13:58.080 --> 0:14:01.600 should deduct two degrees from your cooking temperature. We're talking 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:06.440 fahrenheit here for every one thousand feet of elevation. So 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:08.920 since they were at more than six thousand feet, they 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:12.360 should have deducted about twelve degrees from their cooking temperature. 0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:14.800 But Jim didn't know that at the beginning of it. However, 0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:17.680 he figured it out eventually, and he cooked up a 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:21.040 batch of a twenty two pound batch of fudge. Yeah, 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:23.120 and they made a lot of flavors to that first weekend, 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:25.920 and you know, despite all these little hiccups, they had 0:14:25.920 --> 0:14:28.080 a really good opening weekend. They sold out of fudge. 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:30.280 They made eight hundred and fifty dollars the first day, 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:32.800 and the second day was about as good, maybe a 0:14:32.800 --> 0:14:35.400 little bit better, because they remembered to bring the chocolate. Yeah, 0:14:35.440 --> 0:14:37.720 that was the other big problem. They had left the 0:14:37.800 --> 0:14:41.200 chocolate behind on opening day. Yeah. Yeah, it's a good thing. 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:43.880 They had fudge and carmel apples and things like that. 0:14:44.120 --> 0:14:47.480 They also got a request from some customers they said, hey, 0:14:47.480 --> 0:14:51.960 do you do mail orders and crails like yeah, they 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:54.080 hadn't even thought about it yet, know, And it would 0:14:54.120 --> 0:14:56.760 actually take them a little bit of time to test 0:14:56.800 --> 0:14:59.640 a mail order catalog. Oh yeah, no, that the actual 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:02.520 cattle log would take several years before they would launch 0:15:02.600 --> 0:15:05.960 one of those. But they rapidly followed a philosophy and 0:15:06.000 --> 0:15:08.280 this would stay true for much of the history of 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:12.760 the company of let's say yes and then yeah. And 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:14.440 you know, there are a lot of companies that do 0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:18.440 this to varying success, but it really it really speaks 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:22.840 to craal tenacity. Then they had this other problem where 0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:25.920 they didn't have good cold transportation to bring this chocolate 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:29.120 over from California. They didn't have refrigerated trucks yet. No, 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:31.440 and you know, I don't think Jim was going to 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:34.280 constantly make that trip back and forth. Yeah, So they 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:37.160 realized they were going to need to start making chocolate 0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:42.400 on the premises, So they reached out to Everett Seeley, 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:44.480 the same man that they had bought the chocolate from. 0:15:44.520 --> 0:15:48.000 Now he at this point was entering into retirement, and 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:50.920 they said, could you teach us? Oh, why is chocolate tear? 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:53.520 And he said, yes, grasshopper. So they set up shop 0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:56.440 and the most logical of places on top of a 0:15:56.520 --> 0:15:59.160 ping pong table. Yeah, that's weird. I mean if you 0:15:59.240 --> 0:16:01.640 make if you make a ruffle and it bounces, doesn't 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:05.400 that mean it's fresh? I guess. So this was also 0:16:05.520 --> 0:16:09.120 when Kraill would have another mistake that would help define 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:11.720 the company. This is also another interesting thing about this 0:16:11.800 --> 0:16:14.880 particular company is that it's a company that was defined 0:16:15.000 --> 0:16:17.800 by mistakes, but not in a bad way, like it 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:20.800 was stuff that would end up kind of differentiating the 0:16:20.880 --> 0:16:23.280 company from other companies. I mean, it did have some 0:16:23.400 --> 0:16:28.040 negative impacts financially, but yeah, from a consumers standpoint, people 0:16:28.080 --> 0:16:30.080 loved it. And the thing we're talking about here is 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:33.280 where Kraill had decided he's going to make some well 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:35.720 we would call him turtles, but they call him bears 0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:39.760 in the Rocky Mountains speak. And it is a mixture 0:16:39.760 --> 0:16:43.480 of caramel and pecans, or caramel and pecans. If you 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:47.720 prefer that's then dipped in chocolate. But the problem was 0:16:48.080 --> 0:16:52.320 the caramel and pecan clusters that Kraill had made were 0:16:52.680 --> 0:16:55.800 about five times bigger than what they needed to be. Yes, 0:16:56.360 --> 0:16:59.760 way way too big. But they did not trash them. No, 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:02.240 they dipped them in chocolate and sold them and people 0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:05.600 loved them. Yeah. I mean, come on, you're you're like, oh, candy, 0:17:05.680 --> 0:17:08.000 that's five times the size of normal candy. I would 0:17:08.040 --> 0:17:10.440 also love that, you know. And people loved watching them 0:17:10.440 --> 0:17:12.359 mess up and figure out how to fix their mistakes. 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:14.760 So they'd be in store making their candies and they 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:16.399 make the core too big, and then they dip it 0:17:16.440 --> 0:17:18.639 and wouldn't look right again, so they dip it again, 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:22.439 and there these candies became massive. And they had one 0:17:22.480 --> 0:17:24.280 peanut butter cup they made that was big enough that 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:26.840 it got nicknamed the bucket. Yeah, so I want to 0:17:26.840 --> 0:17:30.760 eat that. This actually reminds me of of experiences I've 0:17:30.760 --> 0:17:35.800 had where I've gone into like locally run businesses where 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:39.720 the people running the business are very sincere. Sometimes things 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:43.400 are not going exactly as planned, but it does come 0:17:43.440 --> 0:17:47.800 across as more charming because they don't let that derail them. 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:52.520 They don't deny that there's an issue. They just they 0:17:52.640 --> 0:17:55.840 either embrace the failure and incorporated in some way or 0:17:56.200 --> 0:17:59.080 otherwise make you feel like you can kind of trust 0:17:59.119 --> 0:18:02.600 these people because they're they're not hiding away things right, 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:05.600 And I find that very endearing, and it sounds like 0:18:05.640 --> 0:18:08.040 the people of Durango, Colorado and the tourists who are 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:10.639 visiting also did so. Their first year they made a 0:18:10.720 --> 0:18:13.560 hundred and eighty thousand dollars, which sounds like a lot, 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:16.879 but you've got to remember that they had spent a 0:18:16.920 --> 0:18:20.640 good deal of money, in fact, more than their starting 0:18:20.880 --> 0:18:24.879 investment capital, just getting things running that first year, the 0:18:25.200 --> 0:18:27.840 third k on the on the lease, and then all 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:30.000 of their supplies, all of their equipments and all of 0:18:30.000 --> 0:18:34.000 their resupplies as well, So the company spent quite a 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:36.760 few years just trying to make up that loss. Also, 0:18:36.840 --> 0:18:40.600 in nine two, just after they had launched, it became 0:18:40.640 --> 0:18:44.040 clear that while this was a true passion project for 0:18:44.119 --> 0:18:48.080 Frank Crayle, the same could not be said for Jim 0:18:48.119 --> 0:18:52.080 and Mark, his co investors, who helped launch the company 0:18:52.119 --> 0:18:56.200 back in the end of one so they both wanted 0:18:56.240 --> 0:19:00.560 out and Frank bought their shares of the company. Yes. Now, 0:19:00.840 --> 0:19:04.240 Frank also would open up some additional stores. After the 0:19:04.280 --> 0:19:07.040 success of his first one, he expanded out so that 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:11.160 he owned four stores. It was an owned and operated business. 0:19:11.960 --> 0:19:14.840 And then he made another big decision that ultimately would 0:19:14.840 --> 0:19:17.679 affect the success of his company. He decided he was 0:19:17.720 --> 0:19:20.640 going to franchise. He wasn't going to be like Sees Candy. 0:19:20.880 --> 0:19:23.560 And so the problem was, like many of the other 0:19:23.600 --> 0:19:26.399 incidents we've talked about before, he didn't have any experience 0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:29.000 in this. He didn't have any working knowledge of how 0:19:29.000 --> 0:19:31.560 this would work, or even an infrastructure to support it. 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:33.960 But he said, this is what I want to do, 0:19:34.440 --> 0:19:37.840 so he plunged into it. Now he had a hope 0:19:38.000 --> 0:19:40.640 that by opening up more stores, if he can make 0:19:40.680 --> 0:19:44.520 them as successful as his first stores primary store, he 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:47.919 would make enough money to overcome the costs of operating 0:19:47.960 --> 0:19:49.680 the business. Yeah, because then you can buy in bulk 0:19:49.760 --> 0:19:52.800 a little bit more um and split that supply cost 0:19:52.960 --> 0:19:55.960 between multiple locations that are all bringing in hopefully the 0:19:55.960 --> 0:19:58.119 same amount of revenue. Yeah. So this was this was 0:19:58.160 --> 0:20:01.280 a big gamble because could have just as easily been 0:20:01.320 --> 0:20:03.439 that each of those stores would have just added to 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:05.760 the cost of operation. Yeah, or that they if they 0:20:05.760 --> 0:20:08.960 were too close, they just split their customers. Right, Yeah, 0:20:09.000 --> 0:20:11.560 you end up not getting as much revenue because people 0:20:11.840 --> 0:20:14.479 just are choosing one store or the other. But you're not. 0:20:14.640 --> 0:20:17.720 You're not you're not effectively doubling or tripling your revenue 0:20:17.720 --> 0:20:21.879 anymore because you've you've diluted it. Yeah, this was a 0:20:21.920 --> 0:20:24.800 pretty big risk, and it was one that did not 0:20:24.880 --> 0:20:29.080 immediately pay off either, so that also made it even scarier. Right, Like, 0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:32.639 it could have been a situation where because it was 0:20:32.680 --> 0:20:35.480 taking a long time to kind of get on solid 0:20:35.520 --> 0:20:40.719 financial ground, you could have seen this candy empire melt away. 0:20:40.720 --> 0:20:43.359 Clever Jonathan, I was gonna say cookie crumbles, but that 0:20:43.440 --> 0:20:46.879 doesn't really work well. Kraale was, you know, thinking of 0:20:46.920 --> 0:20:50.199 the bruttalness of all of this situation. Okay, okay, I 0:20:50.200 --> 0:20:53.359 see where you're going. Because he spent nights up wondering 0:20:53.400 --> 0:20:55.240 if he could pay his employees for the week, he 0:20:55.280 --> 0:20:57.600 had to contact their suppliers saying, hey, we can't pay 0:20:57.640 --> 0:21:01.440 this invoice. Thankfully, a lot of people were really understanding 0:21:01.480 --> 0:21:03.960 and worked with him, which is I wouldn't say the 0:21:04.040 --> 0:21:07.399 norm no to me. It is pretty remarkable that he 0:21:07.440 --> 0:21:10.760 would talk to these suppliers, and they seemed very understanding 0:21:10.880 --> 0:21:15.280 and would offer him extensions on paying back his debts. 0:21:15.840 --> 0:21:18.600 He was also having trouble even though he was expanding 0:21:18.640 --> 0:21:21.040 his business, he was having trouble with that as well 0:21:21.080 --> 0:21:23.040 because he didn't have a whole lot of money, so 0:21:23.080 --> 0:21:26.280 it was difficult to attract people to run the businesses 0:21:26.280 --> 0:21:29.879 who had experience both in the candy industry and just 0:21:29.960 --> 0:21:32.280 running a business in general. He was having trouble getting 0:21:32.320 --> 0:21:36.080 the talent he needed, so he faced a lot of 0:21:36.080 --> 0:21:40.240 different challenges at that moment. Even so, while he's facing 0:21:40.240 --> 0:21:43.360 all these challenges, he's still maybe by force of will alone, 0:21:44.000 --> 0:21:47.520 making this company grow to the point in six he's 0:21:47.560 --> 0:21:50.399 ready to bring it public and to have an I 0:21:50.560 --> 0:21:53.720 p O on the Nasdaq. Yeah, and it took sixteen 0:21:53.800 --> 0:21:56.160 years from that point for them to be financially sound. Yeah, 0:21:56.160 --> 0:21:59.679