here's johnny:
GOUMAS Candyland | Goumas confections
Brothers wage 'Battle of the Bonbons' in GranvilleTuesday, May 19, 2009 3:09 AM
By Josh Jarman
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
GRANVILLE, Ohio -- Goumas. If you're not familiar with the name, you're not from Licking County, where it is synonymous with rich, hand-dipped chocolate.
The family of candymakers has been known for its sugary sweets for almost four generations, but a falling out among the Goumas brothers has spawned a battle for E. Broadway, as each side plans to open competing stores here about 100 feet apart.
The rivalry began late last year when the eldest brother, George Goumas, returned to the area after closing a store on Sanibel Island, Fla. As is traditional in Greek families, Bessie Goumas, the matriarch and owner of Goumas Candyland, welcomed him back as a manager of the store that has operated in Licking County for more than half a century.
That incensed younger sons Greg and Socrates Goumas, the family's chief chocolatiers who had run the business for years in their older brother's absence. The final straw came on Dec. 1, when detectives were called to the family's Heath location after the two were ordered off the premises by their mother's attorney.
"My mom was thinking all of us would work together again and be a happy family," Socrates Goumas said. "That wasn't going to happen."
The 56-year-old Socrates said he didn't get along with his 58-year-old brother but thought he had put that behind him when George left for Florida in 2002. Socrates said going back to work for George would be impossible, so he and 57-year-old Greg started their own candymaking business, Goumas Confections, off 21st Street in Newark.
Here's where the stories diverge: Each side claims to be the one using the original recipes handed down from their grandfather George Stamas, who opened a restaurant on Newark's downtown square in 1911.
Those recipes were passed to Bessie's husband, Gus Goumas, who took over the family business, which was renamed Goumas Candyland in 1952.
George Goumas, who operates the Heath store with his wife, Marilyn, said his mother had copies of all the recipes, which her husband had written in Greek and which she had translated into English. While his father had never wanted him to be a candymaker, George Goumas said that, before he left for college, he persuaded Gus to teach him to make the family's English toffee.
Socrates said he learned to make chocolate from his father by working in the store starting as a teenager. He said his father's recipes were merely lists of ingredients that did not explain how to make the candy.
The brothers also differ over why there will soon be two Granville stores.
George said his father had always wanted a Granville location. He said friends told him about a possible home, at 238 E. Broadway, soon after he took over the business in December.
Socrates has lived in Granville for 25 years and said people have been begging him to open a Goumas store there for as long as he can remember. He said his old- est brother decided to come to Granville only after Socrates announced plans to open at 224 E. Broadway.
Bessie Goumas, 87, said she doesn't begrudge her sons starting their own businesses and was not involved in the decision to open a Granville store other than to give her blessing. "I'm in the middle," she said.
So, too, are village residents, who say their taste buds will decide which becomes Granville's favorite.
"I think it's too early to tell if people will pick one over the other," said Dena McKinley, whose Ace Express Print & Ship business is between the two soon-to-be chocolate stores.
She said that adding businesses can only be good for the village, but she thinks it odd to go from no candy stores to two. "I call it the Battle of the Bonbons," she added.
Chuck Pierson, a Newark resident who is a substitute teacher in Granville, said he doesn't think there is enough demand in the village to sustain both stores. Having long known the family, he said it's too bad the brothers couldn't come to an agreement.
"They're a legend in this area," Pierson said. "I hate to see it come to this."
jjarman@dispatch.com
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/05/19/Goumas.ART_ART_05-19-09_A1_H7DTGA2.html
