Fanny Farmer Candy Box

The Fanny Farmer Candy Company began in Rochester, New York in 1919. Founded by Canadian businessman Frank O’Connor with a shop on East Main Street, the company name was an allusion to the recently deceased chef and cookbook author Fannie Farmer. The company grew rapidly with multiple factories (“studios” in company parlance) and stores across the country. The Rochester studio stood at the corner of South Avenue and Griffith Street. Long-time company president John D. Hayes was a savvy businessman who would ultimately be named “Candy Man of the Year” by a trade publication in 1955. He built up the company through even the worst of times; by cutting retail prices during the Great Depression he oversaw a 150 percent sales increase even at the height of the Depression.

In 1962, a proxy battle led to Fanny Farmer being taken over by a New York and New England investor group. This did not hurt the company’s prosperity; new stores opened regularly. (The store that opened at Midtown Plaza in downtown Rochester that year was the company’s 415th.) However, manufacturing soon left Rochester – the South Avenue factory closed in 1967. The company maintained numerous stores in the Rochester area for decades afterwards – as late as 1990, there were 15. However, the last three Fanny Farmers in Rochester, located in Marketplace Mall, The Mall at Greece Ridge Center, and Panorama Plaza, all closed in 2004.