Spencers’ Sweet Call continues 100-year candy legacy in Webb City
by Sara Schafer | sschafer@ruralmissouri.coop
With the precision of a chemist and the patience of a preacher, Charles Spencer approaches the rotating machine filled with shimmering liquid gold. He carefully ladles out just the right amount of chocolate — heated precisely to 86.8 degrees. He pours the chocolate into a charming bunny mold, which is held tightly together by three binder clips.
Once the chocolate fills a little under half of the mold, Charles slowly rotates the mold to inspect every angle. “You tap the molds so that the chocolate gets into the features,” he says. “You can see like there’s a little bubble there on her nose, so you have to keep tapping up until the bubble goes out. You usually want them heavier at the bottom, so the bunnies can stand up.”
After Charles is happy with the thickness and consistency, he adds one more clip to the bottom of the mold and stands it up on his worktable to let it cool and set. One bunny done, and several hundred more to go. These bunnies will delight children and adults alike this Easter — offering a sweet taste of nostalgia and fun.
Charles and his wife, Malinda, own Spencer’s Sweet Call at the Minerva in Webb City. They are just the third family to run a business at this location, which originally opened in 1917. The couple opened their store in 2017, after the shop had been closed for several years. “I’m one of the people who got themselves in trouble on the internet,” Charles says. “I was just looking for used candy equipment online to use as a hobby. Instead, I found a whole candy store.”
Charles has always enjoyed making sweet treats. His other job is serving as Presbyterian minister, so he and Malinda would commonly make and take cakes, pies and breads to church functions. Charles was wrapping up his time with a church in Lee’s Summit when he found the candy equipment and store for sale in Webb City.
While Malinda was surprised by the idea, she was open to it. “It seemed right, which helped,” she says. “It was a lot of change, but you have to be open to change.”
The couple moved south and started restoring the store, which was famous for its dozens of varieties of homemade candy, including chocolate hearts for Valentine’s Day and candy canes at Christmas. They scrubbed the blue-and-white tile floors, touched up the tin ceiling and worked to bring the antique candy equipment back to life.
Today, the shop’s cases are filled with caramels, fun chocolates shaped for various holidays, old-fashioned ribbon candy, pies and cakes. They also have modern-day bulk candy, 80 varieties of soda in glass bottles and other seasonal goodies.
For Easter, the star of the candy case is giant eggs. “The eggs are a big local tradition,” Charles says. “People were asking us, ‘When are you going to do the eggs?’ I asked, ‘What are the eggs?’ They said, ‘Oh, you know, the chocolate eggs with candy inside.’ We had to talk to a lot of people to actually get to the bottom of what they were.”
The memorable treats include a hollow chocolate egg that’s made in an ornate mold. Customers then choose a third of a pound of candy to fill the egg. Charles fills the eggs with treats such as jellybeans or chocolate-covered caramels, then he seals the two egg halves with royal icing.
“You have to make the shell thick enough that it has structural integrity, but thin enough it is like the consistency of a chocolate bar,” he says.
Eggs come with two tickets — one with the price ($16 or $18 depending on the candy) and one to say what candy is inside. That way grandmothers with large orders know exactly who gets what egg. “You’re always worried you’ll switch them up,” Charles says.
Charles and Malinda admit owning a candy shop came with a steep learning curve. “I have a chemistry degree, and this is the closest I’ve come to using that degree,” Charles says.
The two enjoy seeing customers — whether they are locals or tourists visiting Route 66, which runs a block from the store. They are honored to carry on a 100-year-plus tradition and play a special part in their customers’ Easter baskets.
Spencer’s Sweet Call at the Minerva is open Wednesdays and Thursdays, 1 to 5 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is located at 12 S. Main St. in Webb City. Learn more at sweetcall.net.