After 87 years in business, a local candy store comes to a bittersweet end. After failing to find a partner/investor, the owner of Wisteria Candy Cottage in Boulevard is calling it quits today – one day earlier than planned.
The closure was prompted by slowing sales over the past three years, rising gas prices and the inability of business owner Dana Eacobellis to buy her two sisters' share of the property.
Sales of Wisteria's handmade chocolates have boomed since Eacobellis' recent announcement to customers via letter. Eacobellis said she and her staff have been overwhelmed since by an average of 200 orders a day. The shop along Old Highway 80, which once served as a one-room schoolhouse, is shutting early because Eacobellis is running out of supplies and time to fill orders.
“Making candy is a lot of work,” said Eacobellis, who took over the candy cottage from her parents in 2002.
Her grandmother, Luz Brown, worked there in the 1940s and bought the business in 1950.
Eacobellis, a former hair stylist, is contemplating returning to the beauty business. She said it will be a long time before she makes candy again, but she hopes soon to publish a book of her candy recipes.
For now, though, she is hanging on to the Wisteria Candy Cottage toll-free number: 1 (800)-ILUVCHOC.
Star power
For those who didn't have tickets to the sold-out Comic-Con gathering at the San Diego Convention Center, the Hard Rock Hotel across the street was the place to hang out.
In addition to promoting her new film, “Disaster Movie,” at Comic-Con on Saturday, reality TV star Kim Kardashian filmed some footage at the Hard Rock for the upcoming season of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.” With her was her mother and co-star, Kris Jenner, who grew up in San Diego.
Entertainment Weekly magazine shot actor portraits at the Hard Rock that resulted in a stream of celebrities through the hotel lobby.
Among the visitors: Emily Blunt, Jennifer Connelly, Gerard Butler, Carmen Electra, Dakota Fanning, Paris Hilton, Hugh Jackman, Samuel L. Jackson, Keanu Reeves, Guy Ritchie, Milo Ventimiglia, Mark Wahlberg and Rainn Wilson. . . . Sometimes tables turn and it's a celebrity who takes the pictures. Such was the case when actor Greg Grunberg, of NBC's “Heroes,” stopped a costumed stormtrooper. Grunberg asked the “Star Wars” character to pose with his two sons for a photo. . .
Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox Film Corp. took over the La Jolla hot spot Pasquale on Prospect for a star-studded reception Saturday evening featuring Kiefer Sutherland. . .
In other Hollywood news, actor Mario Lopez, who hails from Chula Vista, has been tapped to host the weekday syndicated entertainment newsmagazine “Extra” this fall. Lopez, who was an audience hit on TV's “Dancing with the Stars,” has been co-hosting the weekend edition of “Extra.”
Around town
When Robert Blevins boarded the Blue Line at Washington Street and Pacific Highway to go to Chula Vista the other day, he found something seriously amiss. From the array of supernatural beasts and sci-fi characters sitting around him, Blevins soon realized he had gotten on a special trolley headed for Comic-Con.
“A druid muttered something about aliens boarding the ship – referring to me in my business clothes,” Blevins said.
The entourage paraded off at the convention center, leaving Blevins and one other misguided passenger in the suddenly quiet car.
Diane Bell's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Fax items to (619) 260-5009; call (619) 293-1518; e-mail to diane.bell@uniontrib.com; or mail to The San Diego Union-Tribune, Box 120191, San Diego 92112-0191.
