store in Sutter County , which has been owned by the Nava family for almost two decades . Reyes Nava , a native of Mexico City , his wife Palmira and son Joseph all contracted COVID-19 last summer . Joseph and Reyes were both hospitalized for several weeks , and while Joseph eventually recovered , Reyes , 67 , did not . He died on Sept . 26 .
“ My son fought and fought to make it out , and he did ,” Palmira says . “ But my husband wasn ’ t fortunate enough to make it out .”
The store is back open , catering to its customers from noon to 5 p . m . daily . But more changes are coming — Penny Candy is up for sale .
“ We had talked about selling the store and retiring ,” Palmira says , adding that Reyes thought they should wait until road and sidewalk repairs were done in front of their building before listing it . Just after the work finished , Reyes died . “ This has been a really fun place , but I just want to sell the store and move on , and be with my kids and my family ,” Palmira says . “ Both sides of the family are really close , and they ’ ve been really good to me , with a lot of support .”
The Navas were married for 38 years , buying the store from Anita and Victor Lopez in the summer of 2003 as their sons finished high school . Palmira Nava says they were the shop ’ s fifth owners , which was originally named Real Penny Candy under founder Iwana McDevitt . Nava , a graduate of nearby Gridley High School , received a design degree from Butte College , which helped her when she had to manage the store , she says .
“ I hadn ’ t worked in a while but I used to work in a fabric store in Gridley and I said , well , it can ’ t be too different , just candy , right ?” she says . “ I thought I ’ d give it a try . I just had to learn about candy . All I knew is that I loved peanut M & M ’ s .”
It was a stiff learning curve and the store had its ups and downs , but the Navas hung on . Youngest son Daniel became known as “ the candy guy ,” and made several videos that can still be found on YouTube . Reyes Nava , who had worked for 25 years managing Gilstrap
Farms before purchasing Penny Candy , also owned a pizza restaurant across the street at one time .
Nava says the business took pride in stocking hard-to-find brands . Over the years , popular items like Mary Janes or Clark bars would be off the shelves and then return , while once-available items , like Fizzies drink tablets or Whistle Pops , have disappeared for good .
The most popular current items in the store , Nava says , include Frooties and Tootsie Rolls — both are two cents — as well as Pop Rocks , Ring Pops , Nik- L-Nip juice bottles and Hawaiian Snow , which is a hit for nearby Live Oak High School students .
Nava says all the owners have been locals and she hopes that continues once there ’ s a buyer ( listing price is $ 225,000 ). Based on the testimonials on the store ’ s Facebook page , generations of visitors have made the Penny Candy Store a must stop anytime they ’ ve come through town .
“ Everyone says ‘ stay , stay ,’” Nava says , who admits recent back surgery has slowed down her ability to load heavy boxes and to bend over . “ I ’ ve loved it , and met a lot of people from all over , from different cities , different countries . I ’ ve done this almost 20 years . I can ’ t believe we ’ ve been here that long .”
Steve Martarano was a reporter at the Sacramento Union for 10 years before working in public affairs for both state and federal agencies in Sacramento . On Twitter @ MartArchives .
The business took pride in stocking hard-to-find brands . Over the years , popular items like Mary Janes or Clark bars would be off the shelves and then return , while once available items , like Fizzies drink tablets or Whistle Pops , have disappeared for good .
Carmen De la Cruz , who has worked on and off at Penny Candy for almost 20 years , stocks shelves . The store features popular and vintage treats .
July 2022 | comstocksmag . com 33