Old Lyme — Seven years ago, Barbara Crowley walked into The Chocolate Shell on Lyme Street to buy candy when she noticed a 3-by-5-inch card in the front window of the candy shop that said "business for sale, inquire within" in tiny writing.

Crowley was working as a bookkeeper and had never thought of venturing into her own business but she visited the candy store all the time while raising her children in town.

"I always like to say I think my mother had her hand in it because she was a chocoholic, and I just decided then I was going to buy it," she said in a recent interview.

Crowley left after purchasing her candy and called her husband to tell him her plans. She said: "that's a fun job to have, and I'm sure I can make a go of it."

Now, seven years later, Crowley has moved her store to an expanded space at 16B Lyme St., next door to the original shop that opened in 1980 and has been passed down to different owners over the years.

The new space, with the same hanging chandeliers, yellow and raspberry walls, a map of the world showing where Chocolate Shell candy has traveled to, and storefront windows hand-painted for each season, also features three tables by the window where customers and children can sit to eat their candy. At about 600 square feet, The Chocolate Shell is gaining about a third more space than it used to have. Crowley held a "grand re-opening celebration" with representatives from the town, the local chamber of commerce and state legislators.

Crowley said she was running out of space in the older location, and the new space will enable her to expand her product line. She recently was contacted by two new chocolate companies who asked her to carry their products, so more is in the works, she said.

Crowley said she also would like to start hosting chocolate tastings and birthday parties for small groups.

The store sells an assortment of candy, including nostalgia brands such as Mallo Cups, Zagnut bars, Chuckles, Charleston Chews, Chunky Bars and Gold Mine Bubble Gum; gummy bears and jelly beans by the flavor; chocolate-covered graham crackers, s'mores, and Oreos; licorice varieties; hard candies; chocolate-covered sea salt caramel popcorn; chocolate bars in different flavors and with organic, fair-trade, soy-free and non-GMO options; and prepackaged nut-free chocolates.

Display cases show an assortment of chocolates, including truffles and varieties with caramel, jellies, mints, nuts and toffee, for $25.99 per pound, which is essentially the original line from the former owner, Geraldine Brundage, to which Crowley added. Other offerings include Marzipan imported from Belgium, pecan swirls, gluten-free chocolate, sugar-free chocolate and chocolates with alcohol for those 21 and over.

The confections come from as far south as Florida and Texas, as far north as Maine, and from Chicago in the Midwest and Oregon in the west. She also carries a line of chocolates from Manchester, Connecticut.

Another plus is that while employees previously had to leave the shop and walk outside to reach the storage space, that now is connected to the store, she said.

The new space allows more room for customers to browse the candy shop's products and for Crowley to greet them.

"It's such a happy place, and the children come in, and they're just always so pleasant and very polite," Crowley said of the store. "It's just great. I love it, and that's why I wanted to move to a bigger space because it was very crowded when you had more than five people in the shop. Now we can fit 16. It's just so much nicer."

More information on The Chocolate Shell is available at www.thechocolateshell.com.

k.drelich@theday.com