Love can’t be captured or confined to February 14, but the holiday provides a welcome occasion for expressing appreciation.

Maybe you’ll find yourself standing outside your ex-flame’s apartment on Saturday night, flinging pebbles at their window and declaring your unrequited love, but this time of year, local businesses bank on a surge in happier demonstrations of affection.

On Wednesday, Granite State Candy Shoppe production manager Justin Abbott dipped fresh strawberries into milk chocolate followed by heart-shaped sprinkles in preparation for Valentine’s Day.

Heart-shaped boxes filled the store and a Minion plushie, decorated with hearts and four-leaf clovers in expectation of not one but two holidays, watched on.

On Valentine’s Day, visitors can watch the production of desserts at the shop’s retail location on Hall Street.

Love, romantic and platonic, comes in all shapes and sizes. Local businesses count on your appreciation, too.

• Granite State Candy production manager Justin Abbott dips frest strawberries into milk chocolate with heart-shaped sprinkles at their Hall Street facility on February 11, 2026. Visitors on Valentine’s Day can watch the production of making at the Hall Street retail store.
• The Granite State Candy Shoppe on Warren Street is filled with Valentine’s Day items.
• The Granite State Candy Shoppe retail space on Hall Street is also filled with Valentine’s Day items.

Rebeca Pereira is the news editor at the Concord Monitor. She reports on agriculture (including farming, food insecurity and animal welfare) and the town of Canterbury. She can be reached at rpereira@cmonitor.com
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