Staff Writer
Travel along Pearl Street in Springfield and you’ll see rows of older, refurbished Victorian homes full of charm. You won’t have to look too far to notice Sweet Pete’s.
The 1922 Pearl St. shop “pops” with different colors and decor.
It’s what Peter Behringer envisioned when he and his wife, Allison, set out to do something different in the world of sweets in a non-typical business environment.
His mother, Phyllis Geiger, founded Peterbrooke Chocolatier – he is the ‘Peter’ of Peterbooke – and Behringer has been in the business for two decades.
He still owns about 20 percent of the company but isn’t involved in day-to-day operations, instead focusing on his Springfield endeavor.
“I wanted to fill a niche that hasn’t been done,” said Behringer about his goal of creating sweets without artificial flavors and coloring.
The decor is perhaps part Willy Wonka with a splash of Alice in Wonderland. He said the theme is what he envisioned when he explored what would attract customers to the small business.
So far, it has attracted the curious and regulars since opening in July.
“Traffic has been amazing,” said Behringer. “There have been a lot of repeat customers.”
He staffs the store with Allison and friend Dane Baird, creating 70 percent of his inventory from the kitchen in the back of the home. To date, one of the more popular items has been his sea salt caramels, which have been tricky to keep on the shelf due to demand.
Keeping inventory up with demand has been the biggest challenge so far, he said, but it’s a good problem to have.
Behringer keeps track of volume in pounds of sugar per week instead of dollars and cents. The staff went through about 10 pounds the first few weeks, but that’s risen to 25 pounds a week.
The business has been so well received that Peter and Allison are considering a move from their San Marco home to be closer to the business and become more integrated in the community.
Their neighbors are enjoying the addition, too.
“We love it,” said Allison Cook, who with her daughter, Elita, made a recent stop at the shop. “It’s another business to the area and it’s a definite great addition.”
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