Jan. 27—Mike Burton says he doesn't eat candy. Which is ironic, considering he sells thousands of different varieties of it at his store, Olde Thyme Mercantile.
In fact, he sells more varieties of old-fashioned candy than any other store in the state, according to the vendors from which he buys. One distributor said the store has ordered over 4,000 different kinds of candy — and that's just one vendor.
There are malted milk balls, Melody Pops, Wacky Wafers, Charleston Chews, Curly Wurly bars, over 100 varieties of salt-water taffy, Marshmallow Circus Peanuts, Mars Bars and Maple Nut Goodies, just to name a few.
But that doesn't mean Burton samples all of it.
"I'll have a piece of chocolate once in a while," he said. "My favorite are probably Necco Wafers, but I can't tell you last time I had one of those."
Burton may not eat candy, but he still loves it. He loves the history of it. He loves tracking down obscure sweets that hardly anyone else sells, like the Sky Bar that can only be bought from a woman who lives on the East Coast.
And he loves seeing customers flock to his store to stock up on all their favorite confectionary concoctions that they can't find anywhere else.
Now, there are more of those goodies than ever before after the store moved earlier this month into a new 12,000-square-foot space at Maplecrest Plaza at 2905 S. Washington St.
The front of the building is dedicated to their record-setting candy selection, which includes a wagon stacked high with all kinds of sweets. The rest of the store is an antique mall filled with home décor, primitives, old toys and all kinds of other items.
Burton and his wife, Stephanie, first opened the store in January 2019 at 2607 E. Markland Ave. selling mostly antiques. At the time, they had just a few baskets holding a few old-fashioned treats.
But those treats quickly became some of the best selling items at the store.
"I sat at the other store and watched the candy grow," he said. "I thought, 'Man, if candy is going to sell like this, I might as well bring more in.' So I just bought more and more."
In early 2020, they put in a massive order for all kinds of candies in a push to seriously expand their selection. Then COVID hit. The store shut down for around six weeks, and the candy sat unopened in boxes.
It was during that time that Burton took a hard look at his business, which he worried might end up closing due to the pandemic. Stephanie asked him what he wanted to do.
Burton said that's when he realized he wanted to have the largest old-fashioned candy store in the state.