Rachel Bucon remembers the first time she stepped into Balboa Candy. She is now the Manager of the La Jolla Balboa Candy location, but it feels like just yesterday when she was a little girl visiting Balboa Candy’s Balboa Island store with her grandma. Saving up any spare change she found, Rachel would head straight for the chocolate chip cookie, raspberry, and frosted cupcake taffy flavors.
“After the candy store, we would go to the library or go back home and I’m just sitting in the back unwrapping my taffies and eating all of them. I think they were all gone by the time we got back,” she said. It was just six years ago when Rachel, now 23, stumbled upon the Balboa Candy location in La Jolla on Girard Avenue. She applied for a job and has been there since.
Balboa Candy is a family-owned candy business that has been operating for over two decades. The La Jolla location has quickly become a community favorite. Jimmy Sampson (‘25) is a frequent customer. “Balboa Candy is definitely a staple in La Jolla as there really isn’t anywhere like it anywhere close,” he said.
In addition to the La Jolla location, they have several locations throughout Southern California, including Balboa Island, Newport Beach, and Palm Springs. Balboa Candy’s success is all due to one family with a vision: the Bodenhoefers.
Surprisingly, the family didn’t start out in the candy business, according to CEO and Part-Owner Mr. Tim Bodenhoefer. Mr. Bodenhoefer is the son of Steve and Janeen Bodenhoefer, the original creators. The Bodenhoefers are actually the third owners of Balboa Candy, buying the business in 2004. When Steve and Janeen first came across the original store in Balboa Island, which was operated by an elderly man at the time, Mr. Bodenhoefer said that the business had “kind of fell by its wayside.” However, Mr. Bodenhoefer’s parents saw beyond the cobwebs and dust. They “saw a business that was not up to its potential…and had a lot of potential,” Mr. Bodenhoefer said. However, the family weren’t candy experts. “When we got into it, we had no idea what we were doing,” he said, “We just learned every year. We grew…and we’ve been hustling since then.”
The hustle included things like standing in the heat during a swap meet at the Orange County Fair to advertise their business. It also included learning from mistakes. While most of the lessons learned were ways to make processes more efficient, the COVID-19 pandemic provided one of the largest growth periods. With COVID hitting their supply chain, Tim shared that they ran out of saltwater taffy. “And that is our main draw. We have about 80 flavors. We’re kind of known for it,” he said. From that experience, the business now owns a warehouse where they purchase and store candies in large quantities.
Tim also has two siblings, Claire and Robert. Throughout their childhood, Tim and Claire helped their parents grow the business, usually being the one’s handling the cashier and customers. “When I was younger and I was working the stores, I would eat [candy] all the time. I would open up in the morning and have a coffee and a cinnamon roll taffy. But in my older years now, I can’t really keep doing that,” Tim joked. This candy allure was transferred to his wife. “My wife, when we started dating 15 years ago…never had a cavity. My first year we started dating, she got five,” Tim said.
The family-run aspect of the business has led to an environment that Tim describes as “family-friendly” and “easygoing.” “When you go into a candy store, you cannot not be happy. It’s a joyful place. Everyone enjoys it,” Tim said. Balboa Candy takes it further, thinking about the customer’s experience in the candy store. Candy wrappers act as vibrant wallpaper for the La Jolla location — creating a true candy wonderland. Tim also said that he despises stale candy, which can result from self-serve barrels often seen as other stores. Because of this, Balboa Candy individually wraps candy in little plastic bags for customers to take home.
“We don’t want to be your typical mall candy store that’s a bit soulless and that you get stale candy at. We want you to be happy with your experience,” Tim said. The store also makes their own fudge in-store (you can pop in to see the process in action!). Continuing to think about customer experience, Tim revealed that the Newport location, which is also moving to a larger store, plans on serving two new items: chocolate-dipped frozen bananas and “Balboa Bars” (ice cream bars with toppings). If all goes well, these items may be available at other locations too.
Under the Bodenhoefer family, the business flourished, expanding from the original Balboa Candy location to three new shops throughout Southern California. The La Jolla location is the newest, opening just six years ago. However, that hasn’t stopped them from integrating into the community.
According to Tim, he decided that La Jolla was the perfect location because of its coastal and small-town feel. La Jolla also attracted a lot of tourists, which was a customer-base Tim thought would be attracted to Balboa Candy. But, contrary to Tim’s initial prediction, the La Jolla location’s strongest customer base are the locals. “I’ve noticed in La Jolla that we have more of a local presence. In Newport, we have a decent amount of local people, but we have a lot of tourists. In La Jolla, I thought it would be the same thing, but we actually have a lot more local people that keep coming back,” he said.
Rachel shared that she is on a first-name basis with many of the regulars who come into the shop. She often manages the front cashier, where she has the opportunity to connect with customers. “I have been called a female Willy Wonka before,” Rachel said.
Tim has also seen kids who would visit the stores grow up. “And now you see them as adults with kids and they are still coming by. It makes you feel old,” he said “We have a lot of great repeat business with the locals and even tourists.”
Balboa Candy also gives back to the community through candy donations. For the past two and a half years, Balboa Candy has donated gallons of their candy to local schools and institutions like Muirlands Middle School, Bird Rock elementary, and La Jolla Presbyterian, according to Rachel. Tim says he wanted to pay back the community for their support. “We’re kind of new to the area. We’ve been there five to six years…but I feel like the community has embraced us,” he said.
And it has. Bishop’s students and La Jolla locals still remember their first time visiting the store. Laine Jeffrey (‘25) first visited Balboa Candy in middle school with her friends. Walking home from Muirlands Middle School, she and her friends would buy lollipops and taffy. She heard about the store from her mom who was excited about the new location. Her mom had grown up in La Jolla with Johnny Rockets as the main store, but after they closed down, she always wanted another candy shop in La Jolla. “They have like every candy imaginable and the taffy is really good,” she said.
Edwin “Eddie” Hunter (‘25) remembers the first thing he bought: Kookaburra licorice. “I don’t know how many people know this, but I have a huge sweet tooth, particularly for red licorice,” he said. Though the store no longer sells it, Eddie also enjoys the taffy.
Jimmy found out about Balboa Candy in 7th grade when he went to see the Christmas Boat Parade in Balboa. “I then learned that there was a shop in San Diego and it’s been my go-to candy store ever since,” he said. Jimmy remembers going to the Balboa Island location with his sister and buying two of each taffy flavor so that they could test all of them out.
For Rachel, Balboa Candy is a place she keeps returning to. She met Balboa Candy as a child, joined the staff seven years ago, left after two and a half years, and then came back two years ago. Why does she come back? “It’s really a place to create joy and spread that joy,” she said.
