City candy shop boasts sweet penny candy collection

Harrison Thorp 9:16 a.m.


City candy shop boasts sweet penny candy collection

The store's penny candy selection is unquestionably the most prolific within 20 miles. (Rochester Voice photo)

ROCHESTER - Ever since Kayla Peach of Rochester was a little girl she's wanted to have her own candy store.

Her mom, Missy Peach, has always had a penchant for old timey country stores and old-fashioned candy.

Earlier this year they melded their collective passions into one: Sweet Peach's Candy & Confection on North Main Street in downtown Rochester, a veritable cornucopia of all things candy.

Kayla and Missy Peach in front of their candy store at 16 North Main St. in downtown Rochester. (Courtesy photo)

They opened their bright, cheerful storefront on April 1 and it's been oh-so-sweet ever since.

"We hit the ground running and haven't slowed down," Kayla Peach said last week.

Sweet Peach's Candy & Confections has several specialty items the two make right in the store, like gourmet caramel apples, chocolate covered strawberries and hand-dipped oreo cookies and marshmallows.

But Missy Peach's passion of old-fashioned penny candy shines through as well.

While it's obviously not exactly penny candy here in 2017 - it ranges in price from 5 to 25 cents - there's enough nostalgia here to make a baby boomer's sweet tooth cry out for Mary Janes, mint juleps and fireballs.

And ladies, if you're looking for a sugar daddy, well, they got those, too.

In fact penny candy takes up a whole corner of the store.

"Yeah, it's not a penny anymore, but to see a dad come in and have his kids go crazy and be able to have them fill three bags and cost just a few bucks it's great," Kayla Peach said.

And she says the penny candy corner is as much fun for the older folks as it is for the kids.

"First the kids' eyes light up, then the parents and grandparents, too. They all get excited over the penny candy," she added.