Samuel’s Sweet Shop on East Market Street offers as much for the eyes as it does for the appetite. A range of candies, desserts and pastries, assembled on counters and stacked on shelves, draws you in with frosting and pastel colors, nostalgic packaging and clever names like Sour Rainbow Belts, Muzzle Loaders and Clodhoppers.

Adding to the shiny luster of Samuel’s are two of this culinary enterprise’s owners — actors and Hudson Valley residents Paul Rudd and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Morgan is a star of the hit television show, “The Walking Dead.” Rudd is well-known for a range of films, “Ant Man” and "Knocked Up" among them.

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Devoted customers of Samuel's when owner Ira Gutner died in April 2014, the actors, their wives and a third couple with ties to the entertainment industry, stepped in to save the shop from closing. In recent months, they've also helped put Samuel's in the spotlight by pushing the brand on national television shows.

But while the 22-year-old store's coffee and cakes are warmed by the glow of Hollywood, it's retained its local charm under the management of a Rhinebeck native who first took a job at Samuel's 15 years ago.

John Traver began working for Gutner when he was 15. As Gutner's estate operated the store following his death, Traver received encouragement from the group of actors and their families to keep Samuel's afloat, before they purchased it in December 2014.

“It continued to operate in the wake of Ira’s death,” said Traver. “Due to lots of hard work and good fortune, it continued to operate.”

Now a partner in the store who manages its day-to-day activities, Traver said the business is evolving.

“When I was 15, it was fun to go to work and sell candy and coffee,” he said. “Now, it’s more of a different thing. We need to have this business grow and be as successful as possible, so we can employ more local people, so we can buy more products from our local artisans.”

Rachel Hyman-Rouse of Rhinebeck is a regular customer at Samuel’s and enjoys its “nice hometown feel.”

“Everybody knows your name,” said Hyman-Rouse, 45, who grew up in Hopewell Junction. “The coffee’s great and it’s wonderful to see what’s happening with the store in terms of getting support and a lot of attention.”

Morgan, whose role as the villainous "Negan" this season on "The Walking Dead" has resulted in a jolt for his fame, has shared that attention with the store.

You may have seen Morgan wearing a Samuel’s hat on an episode of “Talking Dead,” the television talk show that immediately follows each episode of "The Walking Dead."

And if you tuned into “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” on Dec. 1, you would have seen Morgan present his host — who grew up in Saugerties and launched his comedy career in Poughkeepsie — with a Samuel’s gift basket while chatting up the shop and Rhinebeck.

All of that was surely good for business at Samuel’s. But Mary Kay Vrba, president of Dutchess Tourism, said the tourism value generated by Morgan’s appearance on “The Tonight Show” was “priceless.”

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“We couldn’t buy an endorsement like that, with a national television audience,” she said.

Morgan and Rudd, who were not available for an interview, underscore how the Hudson Valley has become a destination for the famous.

Anyone who saw “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” heard actor James Earl Jones of Pawling once again providing the voice for villain Darth Vader. Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates operates Daryl’s House, a music venue and restaurant in Pawling. And actors Frank Langella and Mary Stuart Masterson live in Dutchess.

Morgan and Rudd place an interesting and delicious twist on the Hudson Valley’s enduring attraction as a home for celebrities and, in some cases, a place to operate a business.

Hyman-Rouse said their involvement with Samuel's is "great, to the extent that it continues to support the business and helps maintain it as it was originally intended to be.”

Loyal customers prior to becoming owners, Morgan was a devotee of the store’s coffee and Rudd brought his family to the store and Samuel’s tent at the Dutchess County Fair.

Now, they are partners in the business, along with Rudd’s wife, Julie; Morgan’s wife, Hilarie Burton, who television viewers may know from the program "One Tree Hill;" a third couple, Andy Ostroy and Phoebe Jonas; and Traver.

Rhinebeck's Willy Wonka

A 2004 graduate of Rhinebeck High School, Traver married his high school sweetheart. The couple built a home on the road that Traver grew up on and live there now.

Traver’s late father, Dave, served as town supervisor for Rhinebeck. His mother, Pam Hoffman, bakes chocolate chip cookies that are sold at Samuel’s.

From cutting paychecks to ordering inventory to keeping the lights on, Traver, you might say, is Rhinebeck’s very own Willy Wonka, the fictional chocolatier from the novel "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and several movies.

Samuel’s, Traver said, is “Kind of like home No. 2. Everyday, you want it to look nice. You have your guests, your customers who come in. You want to offer a high level of hospitality. It’s fun to watch it grow.”

After a job cleaning an orthodontist’s office as a teenager, Traver found working at Samuel’s very appealing.

“It’s a candy store and coffee shop,” he said. “There’s not a whole lot not to like.”

And, he added, “When you’re 15, it’s a fun job because your friends, your girlfriend, maybe your teachers, they’d come in and visit you when you worked.”

Fifteen years have passed since Traver first took a job at Samuel’s. He still lives in Rhinebeck. He still drives the same car he drove in high school, a 1999 Volkswagen Jetta. And, he said with a laugh, “I’m still working at Samuel’s. It’s like nothing’s changed.”

A candy store for Rhinebeck

So, who was Samuel?

Samuel was Gutner’s uncle. As a kid, Gutner, his father and his uncle Sam attended New York Giants games at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. As part of the game day ritual, Traver said, the trio would go to Pot Roast Sadie’s, which was part deli and part penny candy store. That experience, Traver said, instilled in Gutner a love of candy shops.

As an adult, Gutner worked in the garment industry in New York City. He discovered Rhinebeck in 1993 and found a vacuum where he was hoping to find a candy store. That prompted him to open Samuel’s and name it after his uncle.

Traver entered the picture and over the years took on more responsibility. After graduating from Rhinebeck High School in 2004, he attended Union College in Schenectady and continued to work at Samuel’s on vacations and breaks.

He had thoughts of working in the financial industry or becoming a teacher. But after graduating in 2008 with a double major, Economics and English, he returned to Rhinebeck and Samuel’s.

Gutner told Traver he was looking for someone to fill his shoes, someone who could eventually take over the business.

“He’d say, ‘John, this store is going to be yours someday,’” Traver recalled. “I thought, ‘What? Am I going to win the lottery.’ We had bills to pay.”

But he signed on as manager.

“He wanted me to assume as much responsibility as possible,” Traver said. “And I wanted to assume as much responsibility as possible. I ordered everything. I received everything. I paid the bills. I made the easy phone calls, the hard phone calls. I hired and fired. I did everything.”

Making new friends

Along the way, Morgan, Rudd and their families became regular customers. Morgan and Gutner hit it off. At the Dutchess County Fair, Traver found out from the Rudds that they were friends with the Morgans.

In April 2014, Gutner died at home from a heart attack. Hundreds attended his wake in Rhinebeck. And the future of Samuel’s was uncertain. Traver feared the store would close.

“I didn’t have the means to take this on,” he said. That’s when Traver heard from Morgan and Burton.

According to Traver, Burton told him that she and Morgan, the Rudds, Ostroy and Jonas wanted to help. Traver said Burton told him, “Whatever you do, don’t close the shop — hang in there.”

That December, the Morgans, the Rudds, Ostroy and Jonas purchased Samuel’s. Traver became a partner.

“There was triumph out of tragedy,” Traver said. “I had lost my friend. But these really great people came forward and helped me and saved the local candy store and now I have this incredible opportunity to make this place as successful as I can, which is awesome. It’s great.”

John W. Barry: jobarry@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4822, Twitter: @JohnBarryPoJo

Samuel’s Sweet Shop

42 E. Market St., Rhinebeck

845-876-5312

www.samuelssweetshop.com

Did you know?

- Actors Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Paul Rudd are co-owners of Samuel’s Sweet Shop in Rhinebeck and they each have a favorite treat from the store:

Jeffrey Dean Morgan: Chocolate-covered Swedish Fish.

Paul Rudd: Clodhoppers, which are chocolate-covered pretzels with peanut butter.

Samuel’s Sweet Shop in Rhinebeck offers hundreds of items for sale, many of them local and many of them made exclusively for Samuel’s, including:

- The Over the Top: A peanut butter cup, between two, unlocked, Double Stuf Oreos, dipped in chocolate.

- Muzzle Loaders: Chocloate spheres filled with liquid, salted, bourbon caramel.

Video

Visit www.poughkeepsiejournal.com to watch a video report on Samuel's Sweet Shop in Rhinebeck.