Founder of Tri-Cities’ longtime premium chocolate shop dies

Kathryn Baumgarten, the West Richland woman who turned her love of making candy into a beloved local business, has died.

She was 87.

Baumgarten wore many hats but to most, she was the founder of Baum’s Candy, later Baum’s House of Chocolate, known for its premium and varied chocolates and treats.

The business began in Richland and later moved to West Richland, then Kennewick before it closed 1 1/2 years ago.

Baumgarten’s unlikely path toward chocolate celebrityhood began in her native Colorado, where she met and married George Baumgarten while both worked for a trucking company.

She worked briefly as a school librarian in Colorado until 1978, when the young family moved to Richland, where her brother owned Tri-City Fence, and jobs beckoned.

Three years later, Baumgarten was in her early 40s and casting about for a meaningful way to find fulfillment, she told the Tri-City Herald in one of many interviews she gave over the years.

Baum’s opened in 1981, fulfilling her love of candy making and her dream of owning her own business.

George supported her “expensive hobby” by driving for Ben Franklin Transit.

Baum’s got off to a rocky start, she confided to the Herald.

As it opened, a candy salesman recognized her inexperience with chocolate. He told her, “You don’t have a clue what you’re doing here.”

On another early occasion, she spilled a 5-gallon tin of corn syrup. Her shoes got stuck in the mess, leading to Lucille Ball-style shenanigans to free herself and clean up, she told the Herald.

In time, she perfected her craft through experience and attending chocolate school in Belgium.

In the beginning, Baumgarten was its lone employee, logging 20-hour work days.

She welcomed success with a mix of gratitude and wariness. Empty shelves meant long nights in the kitchen.

”You have to stay up all night making the next batch so you can sell them the next day,” she said.

Baum’s expanded in 1986, adding space and staff, many drawn from her own family.

It celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2001 with a new name, Baum’s House of Chocolates, and newly enlarged quarters.

At the time, Baumgarten said she was trying to make the business more attractive to investors or even a buyer as she contemplated retirement.

She would own it another seven years before selling. The business would move to Kennewick and closed in 2024.

More than a chocolatier and entrepreneur, Baumgarten was a writer, a cook, traveler, seamstress, painter and more, said her obituary.

She was preceded in death by George, who died in 2005.

She died Feb. 5. Services will be held at 11 a.m, Feb. 21, at Richland Lutheran Church. Einan’s at Sunset, Richland, is handling the arrangements.

This story was originally published February 10, 2026 at 2:50 PM.