Quick Take
Ashby Confections, a local candy and chocolate maker, is moving into a long-vacant storefront in downtown Santa Cruz, transforming the former Joe’s Pizza and Subs into a production kitchen and retail shop. Owner Jennifer Ashby, who has built her reputation on artisanal, organic sweets, expects the new space to open by Easter.
In a win-win for the city and anyone with a sweet tooth, an established area candy and chocolate maker is moving into a long-vacant downtown Santa Cruz storefront.
Jennifer Ashby, owner of Ashby Confections, is taking over 1207 Pacific Ave., the former location of Joe’s Pizza and Subs, which closed in 2018, and next door to Pacific Cookie Company. Ashby is working to transform the 2,000-square-foot space into a production kitchen and a retail space for her chocolates, truffles, brittles and fruit candies.
Ashby founded her eponymous confectionery in 2004 in Aptos, and later moved operations to the Victor Square shopping center in Scotts Valley, where she works with a loyal team of six employees. Over the past 21 years, her business has grown, and sells around 100,000 pounds of candy per year. In addition to sales at her shop and online, Ashby Confections wholesales to 20 grocery stores, including Shopper’s Corner and New Leaf Community Markets, and goes to three farmers markets: the Aptos farmers market on Saturdays, and the Campbell and Palo Alto markets on Sundays.
Despite being in the same complex as the Scotts Valley farmers market, the location doesn’t get much foot traffic, Ashby said. She’s hoping that a move to the heart of Santa Cruz’s commercial district will draw in shoppers on Pacific Avenue, and allow her to invest in new creative treats, like seasonal truffles, marshmallows, nougat and glossy candied fruit that are currently popular in France.
“I’m excited to bring candied local farmers market fruit to Santa Cruz. It’s gluten-free, vegan, local and all organic,” said Ashby. “It hits all the things that light me up and I know it’ll light other people up, too.” The store will also stock her popular Sourbys fruit candies and tortoises, available at area grocery stores such as Shopper’s Corner and New Leaf since 2009.
Over the past 20 years, Ashby has created memorable chocolate and candies that are as beautiful to look at as they are to eat. Her craft is rooted in her commitment to quality ingredients, including organic chocolate, fruit and dairy. She eschews preservatives and artificial flavors, and makes her fruit candy with organic produce sourced from local farmers markets or, in the case of her candied orange peel, her own backyard.
Ashby has been working on cleaning and obtaining permits to update the former deli since the beginning of the year and is about midway through the process, she said. This month, the county health department approved her stainless steel European-made candy-making equipment. The next step is for the city to approve a building permit to finish renovating the plumbing and electrical systems. After that, she’ll move in her candy-making equipment, like chocolate-tempering machines that hold chocolate at the exact temperature for satiny sheen and silky mouthfeel, a candy cooker with an automatic stirrer for toffees and brittles, and a guitar cutter that evenly carves through fruit candy and ganache “like a giant egg slicer.”
Based on construction and city permitting timelines, the downtown store will be fully operational by Easter, she estimated.
This is Ashby’s second attempt to move her business from Scotts Valley to Santa Cruz. In 2023, she leased 1306 Pacific Ave., between Gobi Mongolian BBQ and clothing store Pacific Trading Company. But a break-in at that space left her shaken and unsure about a future there.
About a year into her lease, Ashby used the storefront for occasional pop-ups and storage for her Scotts Valley store while she waited to develop it. She stopped by in the middle of the day to look for some packaging supplies, entering through the back door, which she left open. After searching upstairs and downstairs for about 10 minutes, she didn’t find what she was looking for, used the bathroom and left, locking the door behind her.
Six hours later, her neighbors at Pacific Trading Co. called her to say that her water was running. Ashby returned that night to “a complete disaster,” she said. During her brief visit earlier that day, someone had snuck in, and she had unknowingly locked them in her shop. They destroyed the inside: clogged the sink and toilet, turned over boxes of paperwork, smashed display pieces and ruined custom packaging. “It was super violating and scary,” said Ashby.
Traumatized, Ashby paused her opening efforts. Then, last fall, the owners offered her the lease on another property – the former Joe’s.
Glad to leave the former space behind, Ashby is brimming with ideas to bring to the community at her new home. In the future, she’d like to offer chocolate pairings with wine or port, and is already dreaming of a few savory items, although she’s keeping the details to herself for now.
By early next year, the long-term goal of a downtown storefront will be a reality. “It’s going to be beautiful,” said Ashby. “I want to create a place that people love to be in.”
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.