Small Business Today Magazine OCT 2015 TEXAS SECURITY SHREDDING | Page 26

SPECIAL FEATURE

Candy Bouquet
International –

Janet and Jim Wheeler
Taking a Sweet Business Idea and
Making It Even Sweeter
By Barbara R. Davis and Colleen O’Brien

Flowers are nice,
Balloons are okay,
For a lasting impression,
send a Candy Bouquet!
Candy Bouquet International’s Owner Janet Wheeler and CEO/In House Counsel Jim
Wheeler present completed Candy Bouquets, standing among their container inventory.
Photo by Gwen Juarez

W

hile searching for a family business that
could be used as a retirement vehicle and
also something that would incorporate the
individual talents of their children, Janet and
Jim Wheeler were excited to find out about
Candy Bouquet International (CBI). By all
outward appearances, CBI seemed like the
perfect choice in meeting all of the Wheelers’ desired criteria. It was already successful; it had colleagues
from around the world that they could connect with and share
ideas; and it was fun, colorful, and loaded with so much variety
that there was no way they could ever get bored. Best of all, as
an added bonus, they knew it was something that would make
a lot of people happy. After all, who doesn’t smile when being
given a beautiful gift basket filled with a vast array of flavorful
chocolates and hard candy?! This aspect made the deal even
sweeter.

24 SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE [ OCTOBER 2015 ]

After buying the Candy Bouquet International franchise
rights for the Greater Houston Area in 2010, the Wheelers began their family business with everyone pitching in. Outfitting
the top floor of their Midtown Houston office building for their
1800-square-foot ‘Candyland’, Janet picked out the candy appropriate pink wall colors with chocolate brown accents. A
year later, the original founder invited the Wheelers to buy the
franchisor’s rights. Jim explains, “I tell everyone I bought CBI as
a Christmas gift for Janet in 2011, but really, that’s simply when
the deal finalized.”
Not long after buying the franchisor’s rights, the Wheelers
discovered some problems that were not apparent in their original due diligence. Apparently, the successful company was not
as successful as they had thought when they had first become
a franchisee. Vendors were holding whole pallets of products
and were tired of not being paid the storage fees. The debts