Reily's Candy of Medford has spent 60 years satisfying the area's chocolate cravings.

Some of the fondest memories of growing up might include a birthday, a holiday celebration or a family vacation.

For Reily’s Candy owner Susan Palkon of Tabernacle, whose parents William Reily and Edith Reily were the founders, some of her fondest memories growing up took place in either the family kitchen or the family's store at 719 Stokes Road in Medford.

"There are so many memories, it is hard to pick one," she told 70and73.com.

Switch from fondest memories to favorite candies and the same might be said of choosing just one chocolate-covered treat from the varieties that Reily’s Candy offers: almond bark, cashew clusters, caramels, cherry cordials, graham crackers, vanilla buttercreams, pretzels, truffles and turtles. Sugar-free chocolates are available as well.

Reily's Candy traces its origins to 1963, when Palkon said her father switched from his love of baking and decorating cakes to melting chocolate and making treats. Her mother oversaw buying the chocolate, the molds, the pricing of candy and other paperwork and administrative tasks associated with running a business, she added.

Palkon, the couple's only child, said she worked at the shop off and on through her childhood and teenage years, but the business did not make enough profit to support a third full-time position. As an adult, she said she spent part of her career in health-care finance. Then in 2004, four years after her father died and one year before her mother died, she joined the family business full time. 

After 19 years of running the shop, she said she could not imagine looking for another job.

Some things about Reily’s Candy have been a part of the shop for all or most of its 60 years.

According to Palkon, the shop has been at its current location on Stokes Road since the beginning.

About 20 years after it opened, the shop began a professional relationship that continues to this day with Moore's Meadow Blueberry & Cranberry Farm in Tabernacle to purchase blueberries.

Reily’s Candy employees have the enviable job of melting the dark, milk and white chocolate on one of the store's several machines — one is called "I Love Lucy," after the episode in which Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance fall behind in the process of wrapping candy — and then coating the blueberries. That produces one of the shop’s most popular items.

Some products are new, and reflect the times, said Palkon. She created a chocolate bunny with a mask made from a ribbon or cloth that the shop sold during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A 60th anniversary bash that the entire community will be invited to is in the works. Palkon said she also intends to expand the shop’s physical footprint in the next few years, somehow, somewhere, saying: "We have quite a bit of demand for people that want us to make candy for them, but we just don't have the physical space here."

Our FIXTURES feature focuses on businesses or other institutions that over the decades have become part of our lives. Do you want to read about a long-standing business or other institution that has become a FIXTURE in your life? Tell us. If we use your suggestion, we will send you a 70and73 hat. Send email to contactus@70and73.com. Below, see the FIXTURES that already have been featured. — Editor

Medford, and running a business in the town, also have changed over the years.

"We didn't have as many people here. We didn't have as much traffic. Medford and the surrounding towns were not as built-up as they are now, and we didn't have social media," she explained.

As those changes evolved, so did the age range of the customers, according to Palkon. While some customers are new, others have been coming to the shop longer than the young adults who work in the shop have been alive. 

"We've had some of the same customers for 40-plus years," Palkon explained. "We've had customers that have moved away and still call and ask us to ship candy to them because we've been a part of their traditions for so many years."

Christmas seems to be the busiest time of the year at Reily’s Candy, according to Palkon.

The next most popular holiday is Easter, according to Palkon. Based on the shop’s online site, Mother’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day and Thanksgiving are also popular candy shopping times. The shop occasionally provides party favors for a special event, such as when a customer calls and says she needs 50 party favors for an upcoming bridal or baby shower, Palkon said.

One change not expected anytime soon is for Riley’s Candy to change ownership. Palkon said her husband is one of 10 children and she has no plans to leave Medford, which means the extended Reily family and Medford Township will be a part of the candy shop for some time.

IF YOU GO:

Reily’s Candy is at 719 Stokes Road in Medford. The shop is open from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, and its website is https://www.reilyscandy.com/.  

Fixtures is a regular feature of 70and73.com, celebrating the aspects of our suburban life that have become fixtures in our world. Often, they can be businesses. But not always. If you have a nominee, send it to contactus@70and73.com.

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