A smell of homemade chocolate hits the nose the second that doors are opened at Valos Chocolates.
The eyes are drawn to decorated tables and shelves full of chocolate-coated nuts, cherries, raisins, pretzels, caramels and clusters.
Such has been the experience at the Arnold candy shop along Freeport Road for decades.
Theresa Fazio, who has worked at Valos since the late 1980s, said consistency has been a major factor in the company’s success.
“I think it’s got to be staying with the quality of the ingredients and not changing recipes,” said Fazio, an Arnold resident. “Customers are very loyal and faithful. I enjoy interacting with customers. It’s convenient. It’s always fun to help make someone’s holiday special.”
Valos Chocolates is in its 75th season of making delicious memories.
State Rep. Carrie Lewis DelRosso, R-Oakmont, presented owners Karen and John Mandak of New Kensington with a citation marking the milestone Tuesday afternoon.
DelRosso said she often shops at Valos for Christmas gifts and candy for her family and offices.
“It’s important to support small businesses,” DelRosso said. “It’s delicious. I love it. They have a ton of variety here. They have sustained themselves through the pandemic, and any kind of economic development, I support. Their business has branched out to most of Pittsburgh.”
The chocolates are sold at more than 20 retail outlets, including Giant Eagle, Community Market and Shop ‘N Save stores in the Alle-Kiski Valley.
Hundreds of pounds of chocolate are melted daily to craft various creations.
Pecan turtles, peanut butter meltaways (super soft chocolate) and coconut bars are among the best sellers.
The most recent creations include sea salt caramels, peanut butter cups and meltaway pretzels.
Karen Mandak said marketing has played a big role in the shop’s growth over the years.
“Just getting your name out there,” she said. “The biggest thing was getting grocery stores, which, in turn, increased foot traffic to the store. … You’ve got to get people to buy it, and if the product is great they (come back). It’s a seasonal business. It’s (about the) ideas (for candies) you come up with, and you make it and see how it sells.”
Sweet history
The original Valos House of Candy opened in 1947 when the late Theodore “Ted” Vasilopus brought his knowledge of candy-making to Arnold. In the 1930s, he learned the trade while working in his uncle’s candy store in Chicago.
The name Valos was a spinoff of Ted’s Greek last name.
Ted and his wife, Rose, operated Valos House of Candy until Rose’s death in 1984.
Valos remained closed until 1988, when John Mandak bought it — with the stipulation that Ted teach him his candy secrets and methods.
“When I first bought the place I didn’t realize how much I was going to need him,” Mandak said. “He was 80 years old and I had so much knowledge I would need.
“It wasn’t like, ‘Here’s a recipe, go do this.’ There’s so many tricks and so much different stuff and nuances you had to learn. I was blessed that he stuck around with me for three years.
“There’s things that we make now that we make exactly the same way he made when he made chocolates, but we’ve added a lot of (other) things along the way.”
Mandak said the family had considered expanding the menu and having different sections within the store, but opted not to fix what wasn’t broken.
“I thought about adding ice cream and building a cafe and things like that,” he said. “We just make chocolate and that’s it.
“I think it’s (best to) pick one thing and try to do it better than anybody else. Don’t try to do a lot of different things. Just focus on one thing and do the best you can.”
Michael DiVittorio is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Michael at 412-871-2367, mdivittorio@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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