By DENVER (KDVR) — What began as any other day for the employees of The Taffy Shop in Estes Park soon turned into a whirlwind after results were announced for USA Today’s “Best Candy Store” — naming the tiny shop as the best in the nation.
While there’s no real award for the title, it is an opportunity for bragging rights. Mark Igel, owner of The Taffy Shop, said the voting and competition process has shown just how beloved the historic shop is by customers around the nation.
“In the last week and a half, it has been joyful to hear customers enter the store to ask, did we win yet? I think every one of them said we, and it was heartwarming that the customers and friends of the store took such pride in the history of this place,” Igel told FOX31 on Thursday.
The 117-square-foot shop, which opened in 1935, has been making salt water taffy in 20-pound batches using the same recipe for 89 years. Through an outpouring of support and reader votes, the shop beat out nine other beloved candy shops across the U.S.
Igel said that when the news was announced, no one in the shop realized the announcement had been made. It wasn’t until another business owner popped in at about 9:55 a.m. that the team realized they needed to look up the results.
“So all of us in our 50s were trying to find the right page and refresh our phones and couldn’t get the page to load,” Igel recounted. “Then my daughter who was cooking, and younger than all of us, popped out with her phone in hand at about 10 a.m. and 30 seconds to say, ‘We did it!’ That’s how we found out.”
Even with the new national title, it was still business as usual: Making taffy and greeting customers at the counter, Igel said.
“I didn’t even see how many comments or likes or emails or texts had arrived until the end of the day,” he shared over email. “Wow! Overwhelmed by the support from across the country. This is an award that will be shared by The Taffy Shop family, including all of those customers and employees now and in the past … but it’s also a win for Estes Park since the Taffy Shop is such a historic piece of the story in this community and a place where people can drop in for a special gift, or an everyday treat.”
After 89 years of the Taffy Shop in Estes Park, Igel said it will be business as usual for what he hopes will be years to come.
To celebrate and commemorate the title, Igel said Taffy Shop employees, friends, customers and past employees are invited to join a group photo.
On Saturday, June 29 at 5 p.m., a photographer will snap a picture from across the street of the front of The Taffy Shop and anyone who has been part of The Taffy Shop story. Anyone who would like to be in the picture should be in front of the store at 121 W. Elkhorn Ave. looking across the street at 5 p.m.
