Growing up, Rob Sharp was a kid in a candy store — literally.
As a child, Sharp, who’s now the owner of Sharp’s Candies on Regency Road, spent time at his grandfather’s store in Evansville, Ind. helping him to make candy.
“When I was just a young, young kid, my grandfather had a candy store and that’s where my father learned to make candy,” he said. “I would go to my grandfather’s business and he’d give me some little task to do just because I was a child.”
Now, Sharp is looking to celebrate his company’s 50th anniversary. Started by his mother and father, Becky and Bob Sharp, in 1972, Sharp’s Candies has become a Lexington stand-out.
It all began in a storefront in Rosemont Garden shopping center on Harrodsburg Road, said Lisa Sharp, Rob’s wife and company co-owner. What was once the only candy store in a small town providing chocolates to locals now has a home in a building that looks like a gingerbread house, sending chocolates to customers all across the country.
The exterior of the candy shop, which has been in its Regency Road location since 1979, was outfitted to look like a gingerbread house. Photo furnished
“When we moved to Lexington, there were no other candy stores here,” Rob Sharp said. “And Lexington back in 1972 when we first got here was just such a small town. I had an uncle who was the founding president of Southern Belle Dairy. My dad was going to open up a location in Bowling Green, but he didn’t on the advice of my uncle. He said that Lexington had the fastest growing milk routes of any city that he served in the state. He advised us to come here, so my dad literally loaded up the whole family and we came here.”
That business moved to the current location on Regency Road in 1979. Lisa and Rob bought the business from Rob’s parents in 1991. And by 1996, Rob had decided he wanted to make the outside of his building match the inside.
“I had this idea bouncing around in my head for quite some that I wanted a building that at a glance of an eye, when someone was driving by or walking by, you would know it was a candy shop,” he said. “The problem was having it look like a gingerbread house or a candy shop, but not having it look too much like a holiday-only spot. That was a little bit of a challenge. I think we pulled it off.”
Still some things haven’t changed. Now, as then, he said, the candy starts with fresh ingredients and no preservatives.
In fact, the quality and freshness are what have kept them from expanding, Lisa Sharp said.
“We make our candy here,” she said. “A lot of stores buy the majority of their candy and just repackage it. But we actually make it, and we don’t use any preservatives… they’re made in small batches and we only have one location. That way we know when everything is made and can maintain the quality we want our candy to have.”
As expected, their busiest seasons are Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter. People flock to the gingerbread decorated house, the Sharps said, but now, thanks to online ordering, many of their products are shipped to places outside of Lexington.
Their most popular sellers are saddles, Rob Sharp said — caramel, pecan and chocolate confections. Another favorite of Rob’s is the bourbon truffle he invented.
“It took me years to get it just right, but it’s something I’m pretty proud of,” he said. “We have the bourbon creams, which are a mild flavor and then we have the bourbon truffles, which are very robust flavors. Everyone that has one is always taken aback by how strong they are and how good they are. They’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s like a shot of bourbon.’”
Near Thanksgiving, the store also has an annual cashew sale.
“We sell thousands and thousands of thousands of cashews because we roast them all here,” Lisa said. “We’ve just had a huge following on those for years. Some people will buy them raw and roast them themselves or put them in a trail mix. And others will come in and buy them to give out as gifts. They will come in and buy 30 of them as gifts for neighbors, the mailman, the babysitter.”
As the holidays and their 50th anniversary approach, Sharp said his business offers one-of-a-kind treats no other store can provide.
“We only have one location; we’re a specific destination to get to,” he said. “We started in Lexington and I don’t know that any other [local] candy shop can make that claim. We have always been in Lexington exclusively. We’re a place that people go to for special occasions when they want the very best.”
Lisa Sharp displays a Sharp's Candies' seasonal favorite, caramel apples. Photo by Emily Giancarlo