How Sweet It Is! : Confectionary Firm, a Midlife Success Story, Moves to Chula Vista

If there’s a recession, Bee International hasn’t heard about it. The family-owned business expects to gross about $20 million this year--about the same as 1990--distributing children’s candies and toy novelties. And the company will move into its new headquarters in Chula Vista this summer.

Owners Louis and Vickie Block recently signed an eight-year, $1.5-million lease for 35,000 square feet of industrial space in the new South Bay Industrial Center near EastLake in Chula Vista. After 20 years in Los Angeles, the company will relocate its headquarters in July.

For the Blocks, partners in business and marriage, the move is part of a dream come true, they say. Not only will the move put them closer to their maquiladora packaging operation in Tecate, but they will also be able to permanently settle into their home in Rancho Santa Fe instead of commuting to Los Angeles weekly.

Block, 62, started the business 20 years ago after his self-described midlife crisis left him dissatisfied with his career as a scientist for an aerospace company in El Segundo.

“As I approached the age of 40, which I guess is a magic year for many people, I tried to reflect on my life and what I was doing,” Block said. “I realized that working for a big company had its drawbacks. I had responsibility for $10 million in projects, but my decisions did not have much impact on my salary.

“If I made major decisions that saved the program hundreds of thousands of dollars, it didn’t affect my salary that much. Whether I made good decisions or bad decisions, I still got the same pay.

“At that age, I felt I could make more good decisions than bad ones, and I would like to be rewarded for good ones and be willing to pay the penalty for bad ones. It’s only in your own business as an entrepreneur that this can happen.”

It just happened that one of his co-workers at the company owned a small candy factory as a secondary business. Block and a friend of his bought the company, which made a lollipop called Astropop.

“That was my introduction into the candy business,” Block said. “But I think my own talents and interest were more in the logistics and planning and not so much the manufacturing end. My partner was more manufacturing-oriented so we separated, and he kept the manufacturing business and I started my own company primarily to do importing and distribution. That’s how it all started. That was in 1970.”

Money was tight in the beginning, Block said. He started the company in a small, 800-square-foot space and then moved his operation into a friend’s warehouse in downtown Los Angeles, which he shared for almost a year. Then he moved into a larger, 5,000-square-foot space.

He met Vickie, his wife and buyer, in Hong Kong in 1973, and they were married in 1975. Vickie Block, 37, travels to Hong Kong, Taiwan and Canton three to four times a year on buying expeditions. Most of the candy that the Blocks sell is purchased in the Orient and then packaged mainly at the Tecate maquiladora. Their goods are sold under the Bee brand name.

“One of the factors in our success are her roots in Hong Kong,” Block said. “Relationships are important in the Far East, and her ability to speak the language is important. The comfort level is there.”

Bee International imports candies and children’s novelty toys from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Canton, then packages them under its label for national and international distribution. It is the dominant distributor of candy necklaces and bracelets, he said.

However, the bulk of the company’s business is seasonal, with its U.S. work force swelling from about 25 in the off season to a high of about 250 as the company gears up for Christmas and Easter, Block said.

As early as August, the company begins stockpiling baskets and small toys and ordering M&M; candies and other popular brands for the Easter baskets.

“We’re fully cranked up from November to February,” he said.

By January and February, the baskets have been delivered to the warehouses of such chains as Thrifty Drug Stores, Sav-on Drugs, Wal-Mart Stores, K mart Discount Stores, Walgreen, Lucky Stores, Alpha Beta Company and the Boys Market.

Much of the packaging of the Easter baskets and Christmas stockings is done at the company’s maquiladora operation in Tecate, Block said. Now in its third year, the program employs about 50 workers, who also sew the netting for the Christmas stockings.

“I have a partner who is a Mexican national. Basically we send down the raw material and they package it and send back the finished product. It’s a packaging facility for us.”

When the company opens its headquarters in Chula Vista, the 100,000 square feet the company now has in Los Angeles will essentially be split at three locations, Block said. The company will keep about 20,000 square feet of general warehousing and shipping space in Los Angeles.

“Then we are expanding our facility a little in Tecate to do more of the packaging and storage. We’re going to be moving from a 5,000-square-feet to a 20,000-square-feet facility in Tecate. The headquarters will be in Chula Vista.

“We’re looking forward to moving into a brand new building,” Block said. “Most of our management people will join us.”

Although he and his wife are the sole owners, other family members are involved in the company, he said. The controller is Vickie’s brother. The production manager for both the U.S. and Mexico operations is another brother-in-law. When the corporate office is moved to San Diego, one of Block’s sons will become the company’s traffic manager, another son will work in sales and a daughter-in-law will become the office manager.

The company is also looking forward to expanding its reach, Block said. Since the recession, “we feel we have had to be a little more aggressive in our sales and try to find new markets for our products. But we haven’t had too much of an impact.

“We’re looking now to export our products to other countries. We’ve done some but not in a big way. In the past, we’ve exported to Canada, Mexico and Australia, but we want to sell more to Panama and Colombia. We’ve found that what appeals to children in one part of the world often appeals to children in other parts of the world too.”

The move also offers the Blocks a chance to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

“I don’t think 10 years ago we dreamed of a house like this,” said Vickie Block of their Rancho Santa Fe home. “We travel everywhere; we have beautiful children. I think it’s something you dream of. We’ve worked very hard.”

“It doesn’t fall from the sky,” Louis Block said.