SC has one of the 15 best candy stores in the South, Southern Living says. Here’s why it’s so great

Kimberly Blackwell studied parks, recreation and tourism at Clemson, was a wedding planner, worked in banking for 25 years, owned a restaurant and now owns one of the best candy stores in the South, according to Southern Living.

It’s been quite a career for the 47-year-old New Jersey native who grew up in Walhalla.

She says she comes by it naturally because both her grandfathers were serial entrepreneurs. One was in on the invention of the Frisbee and Hula Hoop, Blackwell said.

But the Pendleton Candy Company is special because it’s a joint effort with her daughter, Claire, and Claire’s friend, Camille Cunningham.

Mother and daughter are a mutual admiration society with Kimberly saying she couldn’t do it without Claire and Claire saying her mother is the best person ever.

That enthusiasm shows through in the whimsical store, all 400 square feet of it, decorated to the max, on Pendleton’s Historic Square.

After Thanksgiving they took down myriad pumpkins to bring in Christmas, which spills out onto the sidewalk with an electronic countdown to Christmas sign and a Santa’s mailbox. Don’t tell the youngsters, but Claire responds to every letter.

There is also an 8-foot Santa and 8-foot reindeer.

Earlier this year, the store, which had only been open for a year, won a Best of South Carolina Award.

But it’s not just candy. Kimberly also makes cakes and pies and other confections. People rave about her Little Debbie Christmas Cake. The best seller is salted caramel fudge. Another hit are the turtles, which they call Tiger Paws. Claire will graduate from Clemson in December.

Sometimes people come into the store just because they’re having a bad day, Kimberly Blackwell said. They might not have any money but they are welcome to try the samples, and there are always plenty of those.

“They feel so much better,” she said.

The store also stocks purses, a throwback to when Blackwell’s grandmother bought her a bubblegum purse. Blackwell’s mother was a no-sugar sort of mama so it was a thrill.

Blackwell saw that same thrill this past weekend when a little girl from Georgia found the gingerbread purse she’d been looking for.

And from the boy who found a gift certificate for his birthday in the bag when he got home.

Blackwell is living her motto: No matter what, you just have to figure it out.