ALPINE — The Peppermint Place is here to stay.
The beloved candy outlet store plans to move to a cottage-like building on the corner of 200 North and Main Street in January, said Al VanLeeuwen, CEO of Kencraft, the candy-making company that operates the store.
"We are really excited for the opportunity to move the Peppermint Place and preserve the history and excitement of a visit to a candy store in Alpine," he said.
When the investment group that owned the Kencraft building sold it to the Pearce Group in October, VanLeeuwen said that it was thought that the company would have to close the Peppermint Place altogether to make room for the new owners.
Gil Bowles, the site manager for Kencraft in Alpine, said the store had a "ton" of customers who came into the store who weren't too excited about that possibility.
In fact, VanLeeuwen said that there were rumors that Kencraft itself would be closing, which is false.
He said Kencraft has no such plans.
"I think people read too much into our original plans to close the store," he said.
At the Alpine City Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday, the site plan for the Peppermint Place to move to what formerly was Carmela's restaurant was approved, although there still are some issues to resolve. The planning commission is considering changes to the sign ordinance for the city that could potentially prohibit the "trademark" Peppermint Place sign that is a community icon.
Generally, the move is a good thing, Bowles said, adding that the candy store is an important element in the community.
"Peppermint Place is a place that everyone knows exists in Alpine," he said.
Kencraft stopped offering its factory tours earlier this fall, which Bowles said he thought was a significant impact to the public. But VanLeeuwen said the company has plans for the new Peppermint Place location "to re-create some of the same experience as the tour," although he wasn't able to elaborate on exactly what would be done.
The company has already outsourced some of its simple candy-cane production to China. With the recent purchase of the building, VanLeeuwen said that the production of Kencraft's candy canes used in making some of its hand-decorated sweets is planned to be moved to Kencraft's sister company, the Maxfield Candy Company in Salt Lake City. He said the manufacturing of the hand-decorated, "quality" candies Kencraft is known for will stay in the space the company is leasing from the Pearce Group for at least the next two years.
"It's not a mechanized process you can pick up and move to any state on a whim," VanLeeuwen said.
E-mail: asnyder@desnews.com