Family buys longtime candy plant

A Spokane family has bought Hallett's Chocolate Factory, a longtime candy manufacturer here that closed its doors in late spring, and has reopened the business with help from its original owners.

The Spokane family, Patty Kane and her daughters, Kitty, Kari, Kami, and Kristy Kane, are hoping

For now, the Kanes are busy learning the candy-making business from Joel Hallett and Jennifer English, who operated the business for 23 years before selling it last year. They have been hired as consultants.

"It's going pretty good," says Kitty Kane, eldest daughter of the Kane family. "There is a lot of planning and work to be done. We're very busy."

The Kanes bought the assets of Hallett's Chocolate Factory for an undisclosed price in late July. Charly and Sandy Owen had bought the chocolate factory in 2003 from Hallett and English, who decided to retire from the business.

The Kanes say they bought the business at an auction, but decline to say what type of auction it was, and the previous owners couldn't be reached for comment.

"We bought it on the spur of the moment," says Patty Kane. "It was my oldest daughter's birthday, so instead of having a party, we bought a chocolate factory. We're still flying by the seat of our pants."

Hallett's, which employs seven people including the Kanes, operates a production plant and retail facility at 1419 E. Holyoke on the North Side.

"We're considering having another retail store," says Patty Kane. "There was a small store (in Lincoln Heights) that was closed before we purchased the business."

The Kanes decline to give a timetable for expansion or a possible location, though they're eyeing the South Hill.

Several members of the Kane family previously worked at the chocolate factory, and Karl Kane worked at Hallett's smaller retail store on the South Hill.

"At this point, we're getting our production up," she says. "Our inventory was way down. We have to get it back up for Christmas."

Patty Kane previously worked here as a grocery clerk at Rosauers Supermarkets Inc. Kitty Kane was with HollisterStier Laboratories LLC, of Spokane, here as a chemist and says there are surprising similarities between making chocolates and working as a chemist.

"You have to test the candy with careful quality controls to make sure it's good," says Kitty Kane.

Hallett's produces about 150 different confectionary items, ranging from hand-made chocolates and truffles to peanutbutter crunch.

It sells its products at its factory location and through wholesale accounts throughout the Pacific Northwest and into the Midwest, says Kitty Kane.

The company's roots date back to the mid-1970s, when Hallett and his brother, Tom, started Hallett's Farms here. It grew strawberries and raspberries and sold gift packs plus other food items. The brothers split up the operation, with Tom taking the gift-pack business and Joel taking the candy operation in 1984. Joel Hallett formed Hallett's Chocolate & Treat Factory that year.