The best candy stores in the U.S.

This candy shop, with its main store in Littleton and a branch in Lincoln, has been around since the late 1800s and gets its name from its founder, Frederick George Chutter.

Originally, Chutter was a preacher but he found his candy calling by resigning his ministry and going into the dry goods business. Yet Chutter would feel sweet about knowing how his Littleton shop earned a Guinness World Record for having the longest candy counter (at 112 feet long)!

According to their website, Chutters offers over 500 types of candy, including jelly beans, nut clusters, caramels, chocolates, and gummies. Where should we start?

A fixture on Manhattan’s Lower East Side since 1937, Economy Candy started out as a family-run shoe and hat repair shop, with candy being sold from an outdoor push cart. The cart ended up being more of a money maker.

After World War II, this family business expanded its inventory to include more chocolates, dried fruits, nuts, and other goodies. Today, this popular emporium is famous for carrying retro favorites by decade as well as common household names. Other tasty merch includes a cooler section of sugary drinks, a lollipop display, and a wall of jelly beans.

This Philly favorite is recognized as the oldest continuously operating confectionary shop in the United States.

Started in 1863, Shane Confectionery has seen changes in history, location, and ownership over the years, but it continues to handcraft its specialty candies.

Specializing in artisan sweets, their inventory includes chocolates, truffles, creamy caramels, and vintage confections whose recipes date back over a century. This confectionery also puts on candy-making demos and has Franklin Fountain, a next-door ice cream store with an equally historic feel.

Originally known as “Flavo Korn,” this candy store opened its first location in downtown St. Paul in 1932 with popcorn and fudge. In the fifties, the store became Candyland and introduced various candies and chocolates. But what really makes this store pop is its varieties of popcorn, ranging from various-sized tins to different flavors.

Now with three Minnesota locations, the store’s specialty is The Original Chicago Mix, a trademarked tri-mixture of caramel, cheddar cheese, and signature seasoned popcorn. Other picks include handmade fine chocolates and chocolate-covered delights, licorice, and hand- and jellied candies.

In downtown Estes Park, The Taffy Shop has been making saltwater taffy since 1935. They use their original and safeguarded recipe and a circa 1947 Model K Kiss machine to wrap their soft and flavorful candy.

Flavors can go from seasonal (eggnog for the holidays) and experimental (think peach) to common classics (vanilla, chocolate and lemon).

Visitors can watch the process of preparing and pulling and perhaps get a freshly made sample to taste. For those who can’t be there in person, the shop’s Taffy Cam presents this action in a live video, or they can order taffy boxes through the shop’s website.

This 50-plus-year-old candy business in downtown Glendale is more than a store; it’s a seriously fun, candy-crafting operation!

Cerreta Candy Company regularly offers behind-the-scenes peaks through special onsite experiences. One guided tour shows visitors around the factory and includes some chocolate samples. The other gives more of a VIP treatment with a post-tour, hands-on chocolate-making activity.

The family-owned business not only makes gourmet chocolates but also toffees, peanut brittles, truffles, and caramels but also many sugar-free options.

This Jacksonville candy spot was actually started by Pete Behringer, who grew up in a chocolatier family and then ventured out on his own with a business within a historical house.

This sweet Pete manufactures a line of chocolates and sells over 1,000 different types of candy. It’s a fun place to visit with a restaurant, bar and ice cream parlor. The store also hosts different tours and various candy-making classes ranging from hand-pulled lollipops to chocolate pizza.

What’s really delightful about this candy shop is that it is located inside an old movie theater in Red Lodge’s historic district.

With its owner bringing this defunct cinema back to life, Montana Candy Emporium is also decorated with old-timey posters, antique signage and even parts of an old Yellowstone Park fire truck.

Along with homemade fudge, taffy and handcrafted chocolates stored in open wooden barrels, this shop creates batches of huckleberry-flavored candy. Google reviews agree that these sweets are worth the stop!

Based in Ontario, a city east of Los Angeles, this candy shop has been around since 1933. Today, its inventory includes 600 different candies, ranging from retro candy bars to gummy and sour candies.

Logan’s Candies’ employees also have many delicious things to eat–from candy canes to ribbon candles and candy apples to chocolates by hand.

The store also lets shoppers see what’s happening by booking slots for watching candy demonstrations through their website.

Visiting this longtime Galveston attraction is like stepping back in time. Founded as an old-fashioned confectionery in the 1970s, La King’s Confectionery’s candy makers apply old-time candy-making methods and related machinery to produce classic confections. Usually, on weekends and during the summertime, they put on a taffy-pulling demo, and a few fresh pieces are tossed into the audience.

The shop’s candy counter appears endless in length and variety. However, one should save room for frozen treats amid its ice cream shop with a 1920s soda fountain. Here, Purity Ice Cream, which is said to be Texas’ first ice cream manufacturer, is served in scoops and shakes.