Our Story
Where We Began
It all started the summer of 1942. David Lawrence was 17, and had a summer job doing odd jobs for people around his town. He was doing this to help his mother pay bills, since as a single mother she had trouble supporting their family of 6 on her own. Since David had some extra money he'd stop by the store and buy a coke and a candy bar at least twice a week. The store he went to had a very small selection of candy.
After a few weeks David got tired having to get the same thing all the time. He wanted something new, more variety, and nobody was providing him with that. He thought about it for a few days, and then decided he would take matters into his own hands and make something new for himself.
When he told his mother, Sara, she was thrilled. She told David how his father, William, had almost the same ideas as him years before David was born, but felt his ideas would never take off. William created recipes and made plans, but never pursued them. So David and Sara dug through their family recipes until they found his father's chocolate marshmallow fudge recipe. David and his mother made the fudge that day in their kitchen.
Soon they began making different kinds of fudge and giving it to their family members, asking them their opinions.
Almost a year later, in the spring of 1943, David and his mother, Sara, bought a little store in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and opened up the Lawrence Family Fudge Shop.
In 1947, after 4 years of selling just fudge, the Lawrence Family Fudge Shop began selling chocolate bars also. Their best selling during that time was the Lawrence Original, which is still the current best seller after all these years, but it's now known as the Big Ben Bar.
After a few weeks David got tired having to get the same thing all the time. He wanted something new, more variety, and nobody was providing him with that. He thought about it for a few days, and then decided he would take matters into his own hands and make something new for himself.
When he told his mother, Sara, she was thrilled. She told David how his father, William, had almost the same ideas as him years before David was born, but felt his ideas would never take off. William created recipes and made plans, but never pursued them. So David and Sara dug through their family recipes until they found his father's chocolate marshmallow fudge recipe. David and his mother made the fudge that day in their kitchen.
Soon they began making different kinds of fudge and giving it to their family members, asking them their opinions.
Almost a year later, in the spring of 1943, David and his mother, Sara, bought a little store in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and opened up the Lawrence Family Fudge Shop.
In 1947, after 4 years of selling just fudge, the Lawrence Family Fudge Shop began selling chocolate bars also. Their best selling during that time was the Lawrence Original, which is still the current best seller after all these years, but it's now known as the Big Ben Bar.
New Name, New Products, Major Improvements
In 1953, David's mother passed away. In her honor, David Lawrence renamed their candy store, Sara's Sugar Shop. They started selling more products at this time too, because Sara wanted to but didn't have time to get everything tested and created before she passed. David picked up right where she left off in her plans and began selling more candy bars, baked goods, and still their famous fudge. In 1963, Sara's Sugar Shop was selling out of almost everything daily. Business was booming, and it was hard for David, and the rest of the Lawrence family to keep up. Soon though, they got back on their feet and caught up to demand. In 1970, they began making and selling ice-cream, milkshakes, and hard candies (such as lollipops..ect.) Everything at Sara's Sugar Shop continued improving and becoming more popular over the next few years. And then in 1998 Sara's Sugar Shop began shipping almost all our products nationwide instead of just statewide, so out customer count dramatically expanded. This was/is good for us, and good for you.
Sara's Sugar Shop Today
Recently, we renamed a large portion of our candy bars after mainly professional sports players, or things like that. We did this because with all the sports teams/players being so popular in Pittsburgh, we thought we could sell better by changing names. Not to worry though, all the recipes have stayed the same. So even with a new name, all our candy bars are still delicious. With business continuing to grow, and us getting more and more new customers every day, we at Sara's Sugar Shop, are trying to create new products so there's a larger selection of products for our customers. And along with business growing, in January 2011, Sara's Sugar Shop finally expanded. We opened 2 more shops, a second one in Pittsburgh, and another one in Washington, Pennsylvania, which is right outside of Pittsburgh. We hope to continue growing and getting our products into local grocery stores, or things of the sort, in the near future.
