As I read the newspapers, scan the Internet and watch TV, one would think the anger and fear from the economic nightmare  would start to  affect our customers too, but the candy buying customers we have  are still showing their sugary smiles and sweet tones.
At first, I thought the spike in our candy sales was coming from the up and coming arrival of the Easter Bunny, but after reviewing what was selling I noticed it was all of our candy selections, not just our Easter Candy treats , that were  flying off our shelves.
Let’s face it, candy  is comforting and lifts spirits. It costs a heck of a lot less and  is more easily accessible than going to the doctor and getting something for the same results.  In trying times, people  tend to think back to the easier ,  less stressful days .  What better thoughts  are there than your childhood days of buying a bag full of candy for a quarter and running down the street with your best friends.
To say remembering those days has helped candy stay recession-proof, I’d be going out on a limb, but when you look at the past and think back to the Great Depression, The Candy Companies stayed in business and kept people happy, just like today!
Yes the good old Necco Wafers, Hershey Bars, Nestle’s  and Tootsie Rolls were   helping people cope back then and are still today.
I think what isn’t recession-proof in my line of  business is the high end candies. I just read the other day that Lindt Candy Company was closing  tons of their stores, but yet all the other companies making the cheaper chocolates and the old fashioned candies are booming. It was also reported  that gummi candy and gum sales this quarter have risen double digits.

My theory is even getting stronger as I watch our  lower priced Easter candy fly off the shelves and the more expensive brands  sit waiting for me to run a special or put them on sale. I wonder why Lindt  didn’t see this happening and lower their prices to fit the hard economic times? Maybe because they weren’t around in the  Great  Depression, so they really don’t know how to market their products?
Regardless of any of those who seem to be clueless, our candy strategy is working. We are very fortunate to be in business since 1939; that’s seventy years of weathering both good and bad times so we know how to adapt. We carry candy from every manufacturer and do understand people’s wants and needs. I guess that comes from being family owned and operated all these years.
This Easter Candy season I think will be one for the record books, not just in candy sales figures, but in what’s popular in those baskets. Yes you’re  going to see the good old fashioned  standby  jelly beans, marshmallow peeps,  hollow chocolate bunnies and coconut cream eggs, but from the looks of it,  you’re going to see the good old daily Nostalgic candy treats like Tootsie Rolls, Necco Wafers and Bit o Honey’s making their way back in.
Candy is an old fashioned  comfort food and I think we all could use a little of those sweet memories from the days before banks collapsed and government bailouts, so I think now is a good time to buy a bigger basket and reward yourself and others  with a good old fashioned  sweet treat!