Sweet
Nostalgia
McKeesport Candy
Company stays current
by looking to the past.
By Jennifer Brozak
12 724.942.0940 to advertise | McKeesport Area
F
rom Abba-Zabas and Chick-o-Sticks to Turkish Taffy and Bottle Caps,
the McKeesport Candy Company has been satisfying
customers’ cravings for sugary sweets for nearly nine decades.
Founded in 1927 by Ernest Prince, the McKeesport Candy
Company remains one of the oldest candy wholesalers in the country.
The company’s warehouse has occupied the same city block since its inception,
effectively making it the longest, consistently thriving business in McKeesport.
According to Ernest’s grandson Jon Prince, 47, who now serves as the company’s president,
the secret to success has been its ability to change and adapt.
“Our business was built and is fueled by the constant instability of the market and by the
evolution of Internet technology,” says Prince, who took over the business after his father
Gerald, 85, retired. “Some merchants become set in their ways and hold onto a business
model that’s outdated, but the ability to change is the ability to survive. If that sounds a little
too profound, it’s because it is profound.”
And change it did. Little by little, McKeesport’s foot traffic declined, and the smaller
businesses that had been the company’s core clientele began to slowly fade away. In 1997,
spurred by the “evolve or die” demands of the business, Prince launched McKandy.com, one
of the Internet’s first online candy stores. In 1998, the company updated the site’s name to
CandyFavorites.com, its current moniker.
The website, which specializes in retro and hard-to-find candy, features more than 2,800
candy varieties and can be searched by decade, color, holiday, flavor, brand or name. Although
the company is predominately wholesale-based, Prince says they’ll sell to “anyone who can
pay us.” The company can also fulfill custom package requests for customers who are looking
for unique gifts.
“Our job is to make it easy for people to find what they need,” explains Prince, adding that
customers range from some of the largest corporations in America to an individual in Idaho
who might be looking for a particular candy she enjoyed in her youth. The website even
garnered the attention of the producers of AMC’s hit period television show “Mad Men,” who
needed a box of retro mints for a fifth-season episode.
From order to delivery, most customers will receive their shipment within a week or
sooner, depending on what part of the country they are located.
“We stress customer care and convenience,” says Prince, who counts Licorice Allsorts
among his favorite candies. “If you’re feeling lazy, and you don’t want to drive to a mall and
get bombarded by the sights and sounds and the smell of teriyaki chicken samples, you can