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Hammond's Candies is familiar with the sugary sweet smell of success. But selling its candy via the Web has sweetened the company's consumer sales by 1,000 percent.
A nationwide wholesaler, Denver-based Hammond's primarily distributes confections to more than 2,000 retailers that comprise almost 90 percent of the company's business. The remaining sales are produced from directmail orders, which have included Web-generated sales since the company's site debuted in September 2001.
Hammond's distributes an annual catalog and is frequently featured in the Williams-Sonoma, Martha by Mail and Lands' End catalogs. Bob List, one of three principals of the company, said the exposure from these catalogs produced adequate sales in the preWeb site days.
"It was satisfactory for a number of years," he said.
Founded in 1920 by the Hammond family, the factory is located at 4969 Colorado Blvd. and employs about 60 people. With a wide assortment of colorful ribbon candy, lollipops, brittle and toffee, and the typical candy-giving accouterments like teddy bears and coffee mugs, the Web site parallels the nostalgic feeling of the handmade candy that Hammond's is known for.
After purchasing the 82-year-old company in...