There is something new and sweet at the Heart of Kansas Mercantile, one of the MyTown stores. The shop, which specializes in products made in Kansas, is now featuring chocolates produced by the Sweet Granada, a candy shop in Emporia.
Heart of Kansas, located at 1212 Main, is open from Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., and from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday.
"We just thought it would be a nice addition," MyTown General Manager Tina Mingenback said. "It continues the store’s Kansas theme."
Mingenback said the community has really supported the offerings, and with them being available at Christmas time, the confections made ideal gifts.
In November 2004, the mother-daughter team of Toni Bowling and Kim Redeker opened The Sweet Granada, a specialty sweets shop featuring handmade gourmet chocolates as well as other confections and gifts. Customers will find a large selection of gourmet candies made in small batches for quality and freshness.
"Chocolate is such a happy indulgence," Redeker said. "People come into the shop with a smile on their face and it makes my job wonderful."
Redeker and Bowling, decided to go into business together and open their own chocolate shop a few years ago.
"My mom was retiring from the education field and we went on a trip together and talked about starting our own business," Redeker said. "I had never really thought about opening a chocolate store and one day we were downtown and we looked through the window of the vacant store that is now Sweet Granada and almost said in unison, ‘what about a chocolate shop?’"
Redeker thought that a chocolate shop would be perfect, since Sweet Granada is located right next to the Granada Theater and a coffee shop.
"Chocolate and coffee go great together, and when the theatre is open people can get chocolate and coffee before or after leaving the theatre," Redeker said.
The Sweet Granada is in the south storefront of the historic Granada Theatre in downtown Emporia. The design and decor was painstakingly chosen to compliment the beautiful Spanish revival architecture of The Granada Theatre.
The Sweet Granada is open each day at 10:30 a.m. Closing times are 6 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday; 8 p.m. on Wednesday; 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday; and 3 p.m. on Sunday.
For more information on Sweet Granada, visit www.sweetgranada.com or call 620-342-9600.
