Saratoga News

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Running the Confectionary is a family affair for new owners (top)
Lisa Fiscalini Hausle, (middle row, from left) Michael, Steven and
Mark and (bottom) Julie.

Family has as much fun as kids in a candy store

By Anne Gelhaus

When Lisa and Steve Hausle heard last fall that the owners of the Confectionary were going to close the candy store, they did the only thing they could do to stop that from happening: They bought the business.

"We thought it would be a shame for Los Gatos not to have an old-fashioned candy store," Steve says.

"We all talked about it and then went ahead and did it anyway," Lisa adds. By "all," Lisa means her entire family: The Hausles' three children help keep the Confectionary up and running.

"Part of the reason we bought the store was to run it as a family," Steve says. "It's a good lesson for the kids in the work ethic."

"This is my college-fund candy store," quips daughter Julie, a senior at Presentation High School. "This has been a real bonding experience: It's made us a stronger family."

Since buying the Confectionary last September, the Hausles have been steadily changing the store's merchandise to include products from Bay Area suppliers. They carry ice cream from Treat, a family-operated business in San Jose, and truffles from the Chocolate House in San Francisco.

Steve also makes a lot of the goodies himself, like pecan turtles dipped in dark, milk or white chocolate. He's also in charge of roasting the many varieties of nuts his store carries.

"I've been making candy for years over the holidays," he says.

Lisa is in charge of decorating the store appropriately for each holiday. For Easter, she and Julie have put together baskets full of chocolate bunnies, chocolate eggs, sugar eggs, Jelly Bellies and inedible items like egg-shaped sidewalk chalk and bunny-shaped erasers. One wall of the store is lined with stuffed toy bunnies of all shapes and sizes.

Once the holiday is over, the Hausles will carry baklava, biscotti and other baked goods and will set up outdoor seating in anticipation of warmer weather.

"It's all because we got a new espresso machine," Lisa says.

The Confectionary, Old Town shopping center, 50 University Ave., Los Gatos. Hours: Tue.-Thu., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Fri., 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sat., 11 a.m.-6 p.m., and Sun., 11 a.m.-4 p.m. 354-3063.