Our Story
Where It All Began
Long before C&C Candies and Country Store had a name, it began as a simple holiday tradition.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Linda spent each Christmas season making chocolates as gifts for family and friends. What started as a thoughtful holiday tradition quickly grew as people began asking to purchase her chocolates for their own Christmas celebrations. Each year, she took on a small number of holiday orders, carefully crafting chocolates that became well known through word of mouth.
As demand continued to grow, those seasonal orders expanded beyond the holidays. Small grocery stores began carrying the chocolates, marking the first step into year-round production and introducing Linda’s chocolates to a wider audience.
Family played a key role in those early years. Linda’s sister and brother-in-law, owners of Bridges Market in Reedsville, Pennsylvania, offered space for a small stand inside their store. The stand featured a selection of chocolate items, including chocolate lollipops, chocolate-covered pretzels, and novelty chocolates. It became an important opportunity to test products, build steady demand, and confirm that something special was taking shape.
With continued growth, production eventually moved into the basement of Linda’s niece and nephew, creating a small but dedicated workspace to keep up with increasing orders. Around the same time, the opportunity arose to purchase the client list of a small candy company that was closing its doors. This marked a turning point, allowing the business to expand into wholesale production of chocolate novelties and strengthen relationships with grocery stores and retailers across the region.
What began as a holiday tradition was steadily becoming a business — built on family, hard work, and a shared love of quality chocolate.
Opening Our First Store
After three years of operating out of a basement production space, the next step felt both exciting and daunting. On February 1, 1997, Linda and her niece and nephew opened their first retail store in Friedensburg, Pennsylvania.
The shop featured the same chocolates customers had come to love, while also offering candy-making supplies such as melting chocolate, candy molds, and everything needed for customers to make their own chocolates at home. This combination of finished products and supplies quickly became popular with local families and hobby candy makers.
After about six months, Linda’s niece and nephew decided to focus on their growing family. Linda purchased their share of the business and continued forward on her own, remaining committed to the store, the community, and the loyal customers who supported the business from the beginning.
Growing Together as a Family Business
Over the next several years, business continued to grow steadily. Demand increased, space became tight, and while the operation quickly outgrew its footprint, production continued out of the same location. Like many small businesses, growth didn’t happen overnight — it happened through long days, persistence, and making the most of what was available.
In October of 1997, the family expanded in a new direction. When a vacant restaurant space became available in the same building, Linda’s son, Christopher, took the opportunity to open what would become the Friedensburg Country Restaurant. Christopher holds a degree in accounting from Elizabethtown College and worked throughout high school and college for family members who owned Bridges Restaurant and Bridges Market, gaining hands-on experience that helped shape the restaurant from day one.
During this same period, Linda’s daughter, Amy, became deeply involved in the candy store. Growing up in the business, she worked alongside her mother and learned the candy-making process firsthand. From high school through college, Amy spent countless hours helping with production, customer service, and day-to-day operations — experiences that would later shape her role in the company.
With both businesses operating side by side, the family’s presence in the Friedensburg community continued to grow, built on shared values, strong work ethic, and a commitment to serving their neighbors.
A New Chapter of Growth
In 2005, the business reached another major milestone when Christopher purchased the entire building. With more room to grow, the candy store moved into the neighboring space that had previously been a grocery store. This expansion allowed the business to significantly grow its offerings — expanding chocolates, candy, and candy-making supplies, while also adding staple grocery items to meet the needs of the community.
With this expansion came a new name. What was once C&C Candies became C&C Candies and Country Store, reflecting a broader vision and an evolving role within the community.
Around this time, Amy graduated from college in 2004 and officially joined the business as a part owner. Not long after operating the expanded store, customers began asking for baked goods — pies, breads, and other familiar favorites.
What started with just a few fruit crumb pies each week quickly gained popularity. As demand grew, the business hired its first part-time baker, marking the beginning of the bakery. Early offerings included sticky buns, fresh breads, and pies — simple, comforting items that quickly became staples.
Behind the Scenes
While the retail store and bakery continued to grow, a significant part of the business was happening behind the scenes.
C&C expanded into wholesale production, supplying chocolate novelties to companies across the East Coast. Many customers may not realize that a large portion of the chocolates produced in Friedensburg are shipped well beyond the local area.
At the heart of that wholesale operation is Smith’s Candies, a long-standing partner that wholesales to candy stores throughout the region. This relationship became a cornerstone of the business and remains an important part of its continued success.
During this time, the business also began producing its own fudge for in-store sales, adding another handcrafted favorite for local customers.
Growing the Bakery
As customer demand continued to increase, the bakery expanded steadily. What began with one baker grew into a full bakery operation — adding a full-time baker, then a full-time baker and cake decorator, and continuing to expand year after year.
Today, the bakery offers a wide variety of made-from-scratch desserts, including custom cakes, grab-and-go case cakes, pies, fresh bread, sticky buns, cinnamon rolls, pastries, and cookies.
While Linda’s passion has always been chocolates and candy, Amy’s passion has been the bakery. Growing and shaping the bakery into what it is today has been a true passion project, built with the same care and attention that has defined C&C from the beginning.
The Store Today
Today, C&C Candies and Country Store reflects decades of growth, adaptation, and listening closely to our customers.
Our bakery remains a cornerstone of the business, supported by a dedicated team of five full-time bakers, two full-time cake decorators, and three to four part-time bakers. This allows us to offer a wide range of baked goods, including custom cakes, grab-and-go case cakes, pies, fresh bread, sticky buns, cinnamon rolls, pastries, and cookies — all made in-store with care and consistency.
Alongside the bakery, chocolates and candy continue to be at the heart of who we are. We still produce chocolates and novelty candy items in-house for our retail store, while also maintaining a strong wholesale operation. Our chocolate novelties are supplied to businesses across the East Coast, with long-standing wholesale partnerships remaining an important part of our operation today.
Over the years, the store has continued to evolve. While staple grocery items played an important role — particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic — customer demand has shifted. Today, our focus has returned to where our passion and expertise are strongest: bakery, chocolates, candy, candy-making supplies, and made-to-order favorites. This intentional shift allows us to dedicate more time and attention to the products our customers seek us out for most.
C&C Candies and Country Store today is a reflection of both tradition and progress — honoring what sustained us through changing times, while continuing to grow in the direction our customers are leading us.
Today & Looking Ahead
Today, C&C Candies and Country Store remains a family-run business rooted in tradition, quality, and community. While Linda may talk about retiring one day — though anyone who knows her knows that day may never truly come — her passion for chocolates and candy continues to shape the heart of the business.
Looking ahead, Amy has spent recent years exploring opportunities for growth. In September of 2025, Amy and her brother, Christopher, jointly purchased a building in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania as a long-term investment and future home for expansion.
Out of that opportunity came Sweet Corner Bakeshop, a bakery owned and operated by Amy and inspired by C&C’s longtime tagline, We Make Life Sweet. Currently under construction, Sweet Corner Bakeshop is expected to open in spring 2026. Amy will continue working alongside Linda at C&C while also overseeing and operating Sweet Corner Bakeshop in Orwigsburg.
What started as a small holiday tradition has grown into something far beyond what anyone could have imagined. With deep family roots, a loyal community, and a passion for quality, this next chapter is just the beginning — with hopes that Sweet Corner Bakeshop will be the first of many bakeries in the years to come.