PENDER COUNTY, N.C. — Nestled on the coast, Burry Chocolates offers a taste of the past, selling handcrafted candy and chocolate with the Burry family touch.
They've only been around for a little over a year, but they're making quite the name for themselves.
What You Need to Know
- Burry Chocolates makes traditional candies and new creations
- Brandon Burry opened the shop inspired by his grandfather's fudge shop
- He is a chocolatier at heart but took a break to serve in the Marine Corps
Brandon Burry is a third-generation chocolatier, having grown up helping out in his grandfather's fudge shop in New Jersey. But after high school, Burry joined the Marine Corps and ended up stationed at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville. When he got out of the military, he and his wife Emily decided to follow the same path that brought his grandfather success.
“His brother owned a company called Burry Cookies,” Brandon Burry said. “So he was kind of always in the baking thing, and he learned the chocolate trade . . . and him and his wife, my grandma, they decided to do their own thing kind of like me and Emily.”
They run their little shop the same way his grandparents did, with her keeping shelves stocked and working up front with the customers while he perfects the next batch of sweet treats in the back.
“I don't mind being up there, but this is definitely my place back here,” Burry said. “Most people when they come in they're happy - 'Oh, I'm gonna get some chocolate' - and when they leave they're even happier, because they got to meet Emily.”
A lot more goes into making the chocolates than meets the eye. It's truly an art, and Burry is a perfectionist which means he personally dips every chocolate they sell.
“It's somewhat tedious,” Burry said. “I get to stand here for hours doing this over and over, but I get to try it out too, and that's not too bad. Gotta make sure I'm still doing it right.”
They found the perfect market on the coast where there aren't many other shops like them. And being just outside of Jacksonville gives them a strong military community, where most customers are either veterans themselves or come from military families like Burry.
“There honestly wasn't a place around here that does this kind of thing, so I thought 'you know what, it's something I learned as a kid, I have the skills, the knowledge and then the combination of me being able to make the candy and her being able to convince people to try it,'” Burry said.
Their goal is to provide the sweetest treats, but also a shop experience that leaves customers feeling like they're part of the Burry family legacy. It's hard to say whether it's the nostalgia of the old-time-y shop, the delicious chocolates or the Burrys themselves that keep customers coming back again and again.
“That's what we were kind of hoping for,” Burry said. “Where people want to keep coming back in and find something that they really enjoy and don't get to have anywhere else.”