Behind-the-scenes look at Sarris Candies' factory store ahead of the public tours

Since 1960, Sarris Candies has been making its signature chocolate candy creations. It has become a favorite brand in western Pennsylvania. 

The Canonsburg candy shop, which also features an ice cream parlor, is one of Washington County's signature locations to visit. But recently, after moving to a new factory location, fans have been asking Sarris to open another retail location to expand its merchandise base and potentially grow its brand. 

Those requests will finally be answered next week, when its new warehouse store opens on Meadow Lane, but not before they put a few finishing touches on the store. KDKA-TV was invited to visit before the store opens and tour the same grounds that will now be open to the public.

"It's been a work in progress, but we're excited to be at the finish line and have people in here come Monday," said marketing manager Chelsea Sammel. "It's exciting to see everyone's hard work. It's been a labor of love the past few months, getting to this point."

Greeting visitors in the parking lot will be a 20-foot-tall inflatable box of Sarris' signature chocolate-covered pretzels, leading them to the store's entrance.

"So you know you're right where you're supposed to be when you get here," Sammel said.

Inside, it gets even sweeter in every sense of the word.

"It's kind of a candy wonderland," Sammel said. "We have the 12-foot pretzel statue back here that's kind of your photo op moment. You can sit down on the bench." 

Then there's the unique merchandise: pins, stickers, clothing options and other things that weren't offered at the original store. Also, in the decor are subtle nods to the factory's past.

"Those were all molds from the '60s that we had in storage," said Sammel, referencing the metal outlines that used to create the chocolate figures that have become synonymous with holidays, like the Easter Bunny. Now, they've been re-created in plastic, adorning one of the feature walls like tiles in various colors.

"The designer who did the store repurposed them, painted them, integrated them into the store," said Sammel. "Our history is woven into here."

The factory store will also host tours three times per day, Monday through Friday. Spots can be reserved online starting June 1. The tours themselves will begin on July 1. Sammel said they last an average of 45 minutes, and samples will be provided.

Part of the tour will provide an elevated view of the factory room floor, along with screens showing individual stations where the creations are made, so visitors will be able to see their favorite treats made in real time. KDKA-TV was invited inside the kitchen to meet David Guentner, the kitchen production leader, who is in charge of making the caramel that goes into the candies.

"We scale out all the ingredients, all of the items that make our caramel so tasty and delicious, get them all scaled in and ready to go, and we kick them up and get them started," said Guentner. "It takes anywhere between an hour and a half to two hours just to make one batch of caramel."

Placed within the kitchen are several marble tables that eventually hold large slabs of caramel after they've been heated.

"Once it hits the temperature that we're looking for, we pull it out on our nice little buggy and bring it over to one of our tables," said Guentner. "We pour it out, and every single table gets spread out by hand."

After the caramel cools overnight, it's cut into smaller pieces the next morning and taken to the factory floor, where it's then broken down even further to be mixed in with the other ingredients.

Crew members are on the floor at every station, some doing the majority of their work by hand, to ensure each piece is made correctly and safely.

"The quality of the chocolate that we make, you can tell the care and attention to detail that goes into every piece," said Sammel. "Those little details, I think, are what make us different, too, and why people are so loyal to us and love our product."

That loyalty has resulted in more than 60 years of production since Frank Sarris started the company, and this next chapter is bound to only add to that legacy.