In the quaint downtown of Martinsville there is a cute candy store, right on Main Street called the Martinsville Candy Kitchen. Owned by Pam and John Badger since 2004, when they rescued it at a Historic Preservation Auction, this store is now alive and full of energy!

Martinsville Candy Kitchen has been a landmark on Main Street in Martinsville since the business first began in 1919. Back then it was owned by Jimmy Zappas and although it has gone through multiple owners over the years and even a couple store fronts, you still get the feeling that things are done the same way now as they were when the business first opened. Each owner is taught how to make candy by the previous owner and there is a good chance things really havent changed all that much since 1919. The décor is fun with red and white stripes, wood floors, ice cream parlor type tables and chairs (you know those wooden tables and the iron chairs with the backs that look like hearts), colorful stools, a big window to look into the candy kitchen, everything really goes together nicely to make the atmosphere fun and inviting.

Now, you cant have a candy store without candy right? Well, this candy store is best known for it's candy canes. Of course they have the typical red and white peppermint canes that they sell year round but they also make different colors and shapes based on the season and holidays. For example, they have heart shapes for Valentine's Day, four leaf clovers for St. Patrick's Day, baskets for Easter, orange and black canes for Halloween, etc. They also have different flavors such as Root Beer, Cherry, Wintergreen, etc. For the 10-year anniversary with the current owners, they made a 10-foot candy cane and they already have plans for a 15-foot candy cane in 2019 for the 15-year anniversary! Most of their canes are only 6 inches though but thats plenty big for most people. Did you know, it takes two and a half hours to make 200 six-inch candy canes and once you start, you cant stop? What a long process! Im not sure Id have the patience. I cant even make it through a whole candy cane by licking it, Ive got to bite it after a couple licks because I'm just too impatient. (Maybe that goes back to my childhood, watching those commercials with the owl eating the sucker, you know... "one, two, three... three licks to get to the center..." but thats another story.)

Besides candy canes the Martinsville Candy Kitchen has some really great chocolate candy! My favorite was the "Tiger Butter Bark". It is a mix of White Chocolate, Milk Chocolate and Peanut Butter! Yum! It was divine! Coming in closely behind was the English Toffee with an amazing rich buttery flavor, maybe it comes from the two pounds of butter in each batch! They also had one of my all-time favorites, buckeyes! In case you dont know, a chocolate buckeye is a ball of creamy peanut butter candy covered in chocolate but with the top left open so it looks like the nut, a buckeye. There is also a slew of other wonderful candy as well, including a whole case of diabetic friendly candy. Take a minute while you are there to watch the staff make the candy in the candy kitchen through the glass at the back of the store. It really is interesting to watch and fun for the kids.

If candy isnt quite your thing, dont worry, they also have 24 flavors of Smith Dairy Ice Cream, old fashioned phosphates and cokes and be sure to try the Brownie Fudge Sundae! Also, if you visit on a Saturday from April to October there is a good chance you will have an option to get a slice of pie for dessert. Go early or call ahead though because they only make one kind of pie that changes every week and usually they only make one pie unless there are special orders for whole pies.

Gather up the kids, get in the car and get on over to Martinsville to experience the wonderful Martinsville Candy Kitchen!

This blog was written by Ashley Gregory