Early Lent hurts Valentine candy sales

ST. LOUIS, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- For a St. Louis candy company, this year's early Easter is bad news.

That is because Lent also begins early -- this Wednesday -- and one of the big candy-buying holidays of the year, Valentine's Day, falls in Lent. To complete the problem, chocolate is one of the treats most frequently given up for Lent.

Ken Kellerhals, president of Bissinger's Handcrafted Chocolates, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that from a business point of view a late Easter -- after April 15 -- is better. He estimates sales drop 10 percent for every week Easter falls before that date, which means this year, when the date is March 23, will not be good for chocolate sales.

"We've gone through quite a number of Valentine's when Lent comes before," Kellerhals said. "It definitely has an effect."

Women, especially, tend to give up chocolate for Lent, Kellerhals observes. But he sees a positive side to the period of penitence.

"You're supposed to give up something that means something to you," he said. "So that means in St. Louis, chocolate means a lot to women. ... And boy, do we sell a lot of chocolates at Easter."