When Alpine Confections purchased the beloved Fannie May Confections brand in 2004, David Taiclet knew it was something special.

The Alpine CEO was already a fan of the chocolate icon, and when founding company Archibald Candies closed the doors on more than 200 Fannie May Stores, Taiclet and his team found a way to open shop in time for the 2004 holiday season.

“We had more than 40 shops open for business in October and we haven’t slowed down since,” he said. “People were able to walk back in and purchase the chocolates they had grown to love.”

Today, Fannie May has undergone some changes. Once a national chocolate retailer, the company now operates about 60 stores in the Midwest, the most recent of which opened Thanksgiving weekend in Bolingbrook, Northbrook, Vernon Hills and Wheaton.

But don’t let the smaller number of stores fool you. Today, Fannie May is growing its sales exponentially, thanks to a Web site, a new partner and some creative thinking.

“Fannie May is a great part of Chicago history, but we can move on. We can expand,” said Taiclet.

Alpine, a holding company, and two of its subsidiaries, Fannie May and Harry Lunden, were purchased last year by 1-800-FLOWERS.com, and Taiclet made the move too, becoming Fannie May CEO. The confectioner is now a partner to some other popular food and gift companies, including the Popcorn Factory, 1-800 FLOWERS, and Plow and Hearth.

“This partnership has brought us access to a national database of new customers,” said Taiclet. “It has helped us to grow in a number of channels from catalog to Internet.”

Fannie May now sells off its Web site. It gets business from the fundraisers and gift basket companies with whom it partners. The company has even begun to produce products other then candy, including premium ice cream and cheesecakes. Chocolate lovers can also look forward to more dark chocolate varieties in the coming year.

“We’re a trusted friend,” said Taiclet. “People feel good when they see their Fannie May candy. But our brand has the ability to be multi-channeled,” he added. “Our customers trust us enough to let us branch out.”

That level of customer trust comes from one thing,” said Taiclet, and that’s quality. When Alpine purchased Fannie May back in 2004, it also bought the recipes, and while the selection of chocolates has been cut back, all the candies are made using the original recipes. The company even hired back many of the Fannie May cooks.

“As we launched the brand, we received so much support,” Taiclet said. “So we used the exact same recipes, the same suppliers and a lot of the same people,” he said.

It led to what he said was the biggest challenge—high demand.

“The demand was so great when we reopened, we had trouble keeping up. I knew Fannie May, I grew up eating Fannie May, but I never imagined how passionate our people are about our brand,” said Taiclet, a native of northern Indiana.

Today, that’s still a challenge. The company has opened more than 60 stores in the Chicago area, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and Central Illinois, as well as selling its wares at retail partners like Jewel Food Stores. Additionally there are Fannie May kiosks that operate seasonally at shopping malls across the area.

“We’re not going to build 1,000 stores,” said Taiclet. “That part will be very targeted, where it makes economic sense.

“But we always believed that it was a beloved brand. We’re part of the culture, and we want to be good stewards.”