The C Shop celebrates 50 years serving Birch Bay

Patrick and Patricia Alesse opened The C Shop in 1971 with the motto, “There is only one substitute for experience, and that’s quality.” After half a century, they have both.

Patrick and Patricia were working as teachers in Blaine during the ’70s. With a child on the way and Patricia looking to focus on raising the family, the Alesses realized they needed a summer income supplement to Patrick’s teaching job. After considering multiple jobs – fishing in Alaska and working customs at the border – that didn’t appeal to Patrick, they decided to open a business. Knowing Birch Bay was the ideal location, the real question came down to what they would sell.

Patricia had always been interested in running a motel but they didn’t have the funds to buy a property fit for one.

In the summer of 1970, they spent much of their vacation time on the Oregon coast. Looking at the small local businesses for ideas of their own, candy shops stood out. They were fascinated watching the candy made, and knew if they started their own, they would allow customers the same opportunity.

After finding a room that had previously been a dance hall and restaurant at what is now Jacobs Landing condominiums, the Alesses began taking the candy store idea seriously and gathering equipment. They opened June 26, 1971, with a caramel corn pot, candy stove, candy pots – some dating back to the 19th century that they still use today – and a popcorn popper.

Back then, nearly everything for sale started with a “c” and peanut brittle cost only 49 cents.

Using high-quality ingredients and recipes from family, friends, other candy makers, a Betty Crocker cookbook and some of their own, the Alesses outdid other candy makers who said the quality of their product would suffer if they tried to make both candy and concessions.

Sons Keith and Burton, three years old and six months old at the time, would be helping their parents run the shop within a couple of years. “1975 is when we have photographic evidence of my parents’ child labor law violations,” Keith said, smiling and pointing to his nametag that reads “C Shop crew member since 1975.”

“If it’s a family member, it’s OK,” Patricia retorts.

But the two boys didn’t really start working at the shop until 1980, when the café opened. By that time, they had moved the shop to the current location at 4825 Alderson Road. Serving only bakery items, bread and cinnamon rolls, Patrick said opening the café was one of his regrets because it took him away from candy making.

The store, however, continued to grow, and after a year they added take ’n bake pizza, sandwiches and a salad bar to the café menu. Only decades later would they see a need to cut items.

Upon reopening this year, after remaining closed to in-person shopping last summer due to the pandemic, the shop is no longer making pizza or sandwiches. The interior has also been rearranged to have separate entrance and exit doors.

With summer hours in full swing, The C Shop is open daily from 1 to 8 p.m. Masks are required for customers who aren’t vaccinated.

It’s easy to tell when shopping at the store which chocolates are The C Shop originals because they have yellow labels, while those made by other chocolatiers have a white label.

Some of The C Shop original specials include peanut butter yumms, which are white chocolate-covered peanut butter bars, and C-foam, a chocolate-covered combination of brown sugar, honey, baking soda and apple cider vinegar.

Keith, who is now a co-owner and main candy maker, has a Tupperware full of legal pads, each with its own candy recipe. With notes on every batch he makes, he is always trying to improve the quality of the candy. Reading that people have a tactile response to the crunch in potato chips, Keith has adjusted C-foam over the years to achieve a similar crunch. “Now, when you bite into it, sometimes it sounds like your tooth broke,” he said.

Keith runs the day-to-day operations of the shop with his partner Saara Kuure. Patrick and Patricia still live in the adjoined house above the shop and can be found making candy in the back and interacting with customers.

“I really enjoy the other people involved in and around The C Shop,” Keith said. “We get satisfaction from their satisfaction.”