NORWICH – Everybody has a sweet tooth. Be it for comfort food or the occasional “guilty pleasure,” we all have our reasons to indulge in a sporadic sugar fix that leads us to realize, if only for a quick moment, that life really is good.
Sharon Jeffers, owner of the Parson’s Daughter at 6 West Park Place in downtown Norwich, has kept that notion alive for years. Since 2001, Jeffers has been boxing up sweet treats that keep customers returning to her little candy shop on the one-way street in the heart of the city, and her longstanding local business piqued my interest for this week’s “Punching the Clock” series.
With some of the memorable lines from “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” parroting in my head, I made my way to The Parson’s Daughter with expectations of entering a “world of pure imagination,” as Gene Wilder so enigmatically sang in the movie. Admittedly, Jeffer’s shop fell short of my own unreasonable chocolate waterfall expectations; but the inside - with its vibrant wall-to-wall candy displays and other small oddities - was a welcome sight nonetheless. And in the center of it all, a luring glass display case stocked with enough assorted premium chocolates from the likes of Asher’s Chocolates and Chocolates by Leopold that make the mouth water simply by mentioning.
“It’s been a busy morning,” Jeffers told me as I slipped behind the glass case, ready to take the roll of candy shop employee for the day.
Over the years, Jeffers has tailored her business to include one-of-a-kind gifts, gift baskets, fudge, gummies and licorice, and a mishmash of old-time penny candy reminiscent of candy shops past for many of her seasoned customers. She put me to work boxing pounds of assorted chocolates and tying bags of chocolate covered peanuts.
“Norwich is too small for every small business to offer the same things,” she said while I fumbled to get the scale to read exactly one pound. “I just try to offer what people want. When you’re a small business, it sets you apart when you are truly people oriented.”
Even though summer just got underway, Jeffers said you have to stay one step ahead in the candy business. At present, she’s in the midst of ordering items for the Halloween and Thanksgiving seasons, which ushers in the busiest time of year: the Christmas and Valentine’s Day holidays. “Unfortunately, every year is different when it comes to what sells,” Jeffers noted. “I can’t look at last year’s Easter sales and expect to sell the same number of (chocolate) bunnies this year.”
Jeffers has seen thousands of faces enter the doors of The Parson’s Daughter over the years, a good share of whom are repeat customers, she said. But the charm of the pink and white facade of her store has drawn in countless new faces too, including hundreds of out-of-towners - a claim proven only minutes later as I helped her tend to customers visiting the area from New Hampshire, Texas and Colorado (friendly small talk revealed they had attended a family reunion in Pharsalia).
It’s the people connection that keeps Jeffers going, she said, adding “I get to meet a lot of interesting people doing what I do.”
Getting to know the locals and building stong customer relations, she mentioned, is the best part of her job, stating “I enjoy doing what I do, and I love being part of the community.”
The Parson’s Daughter is only weeks away from celebrating its 12th anniversary in the City of Norwich. While Jeffers said nothing big is planned to recognize the milestone, 12 years is nothing to snub.
“And I do plan on being here for a long time to come.” she added.