Kilwin's is ready for Valentine's

Kilwin's is ready for Valentine's

Where: Kilwin's, in the new High Street development off of Richmond Road. 1430 High St., Williamsburg.

Fab find: Varieties of creamy, made-on-site fudge, including mint chocolate chip, double dark chocolate and maple walnut. Price ranges from $7.50 to $8 for a half pound slice.

Valentine's Day has arrived at the new Kilwin's shop in Williamsburg. Chocolate boxes wrapped in maroon and displayed on mahogany shelves look as rich as their promised flavor. Glass shelves filled with chocolate-covered Oreo cookies, chocolate-covered graham crackers and chocolate-covered strawberries lead you to hunks of red, brown and white fudge. In fact, most of the candies and cookies are covered in chocolate at this gourmet dessert shop. And the thick cocoa smell will tempt even the strictest of dieters.

The throwback candy store is part of a nationwide chain, but the new Williamsburg shop is the only location in Virginia. Its young owner Troy Daily grew up in a Kilwin's chocolate and candy shop making fudge alongside his mother and father. His parents own a franchise license in Michigan, and Daily decided to carry on the tradition after a short stint in corporate America.

He opened his store in December with friend and co-owner Whitney Brown.

"I really came to appreciate what my parents had, working for themselves in the middle of all of this candy every day," he says. "I decided that that's what I wanted to do, too."

Though the Williamsburg Kilwin's is just one of many locations around the country, all of the candy and fudge is made from scratch at the local store.

For the holiday, Daily has stocked his shelves with heart-shaped candy boxes, pink and red sprinkled chocolate candies and pink tinged fudge. And customers who order chocolate-covered strawberries by Wednesday get a 10-percent discount. The strawberries are $12.95 per pound (there are 12 to 15 strawberries per pound).

Shop Stops is an occasional feature about new stores on the Peninsula. Savvy Shopper Nicole Paitsel can be reached at 247-4737 or npaitsel@dailypress.com