When Enstrom Candies bought the assets of rival Stephany's Chocolates out of bankruptcy in June, the goal was to head off Russell Stover Candies at the pass.

Enstrom outbid its bigger competitor, paying $1.5 million for the assets of the Arvada, Colo.-based chocolate maker, which also makes a toffee product that competes with Enstrom's brand.

"When we bought the company, it was mostly for the Colorado Almond Toffee, because when we heard Russell Stover wanted to buy it, that made us nervous," said Chief Operating Officer Andy Volkmann.

Within a few hours of offering up the winning bid, though, the Grand Junction, Colo., confectioner decided to diversify, adding Stephany's chocolates to its lineup. That decision gave the chocolate company a second life.

Since then, 46-year-old Enstrom has rehired more than 30 former Stephany's workers, including master candy maker Emery Dorsey, and has ramped up production at the company's Arvada factory.

Enstrom will also operate the Arvada retail store but has no plans to reopen any of the other four shops that closed suddenly in April after the death of one of the company's owners.

The stores were generally underperforming, Volkmann said, because customers could pick up the products at other stores for less.

Enstrom will focus instead on servicing wholesale clients such as Safeway, as well as on expanding catalog and Web sales, he said.

In 2005, Stephany's claimed about 3,500 wholesale customers. After the sale this year, Volkmann said, Enstrom contacted about 1,000 of them and quickly geared up to begin filling orders.

Enstrom has four shops and does seasonal kiosks, but its core business is largely selling to other businesses - the company does 80 percent of its business between Thanksgiving and New Year's, as companies buy gifts for their clients, Volkmann said.

While that channel provides growth opportunities for Stephany's products as well, the plan calls for each confectionery brand to stand on its own.

"We're keeping the two brands pretty separate - we'll treat them as a vendor to us," Volkmann said.

Brand identity is big in the chocolate game, from indulgent gold-wrapped Godiva to Colorado-branded Stephany's.

While specialty shops brought part of the total $27.9 billion in U.S. candy sales last year, it's tough to know exactly how big a piece of the pie they own, according to the National Confectioners Association.

U.S. retail sales of all candy rose 1.8 percent last year, according to the group.

Sales at specialty candy stores aren't figured into that mix because most don't use the scanner technology that collects the data, said association communications director Susan Fussell.

But it's likely that sales at smaller shops are growing.

"We'd love to know what's going on in the specialty stores, especially since there have been some new specialty stores opening," she said.

Most of the new players are regional, or at least start out that way, she said.

In Colorado, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory started here as more of a souvenir of the trip West. Since its beginnings in Durango in 1981, the brand has grown.

The company went public in 1985 and today is sold internationally through a network of 309 franchise stores.

Stephany's, begun in the early '60s, was always privately held and a smaller player but also distinctly Western. Photos of mountains and wildflowers decorated purple packaging, perfect for visitors looking to take home a Colorado memory.

Adding those to Enstrom's lineup can only be good for both longtime Colorado candy names, Volkmann said.

"It's the best way to expand both brands."