Old Time Candy Shop Relocated to Fair Oaks Village

After disastrous weather last January, Paulette Thomas moved her business, Memory Lane Old Time Candy, to Fair Oaks Village.

"We had our shop open in Placerville on the old main street for two years," Thomas said. "But after the crazy weather last winter, water leaked through our roof and black mold started to set in, so we had to move."

Thomas said Fair Oaks Village appealed as the shop's relocation because she recently inherited a home in Fair Oaks – saving her commuter time.

"I like Fair Oaks a lot because I deal with a lot of locals, whereas in Placerville I dealt with a lot of tourists," she said.

Sitting outside of the candy shop on a Wednesday afternoon, Thomas stopped mid-sentence to pet two Boston terriers being walked down the street.

"They start to get so excited when they walk down this block," the dog owner said. "They know they're getting close to the candy shop where they will get tons of attention and treats."

Memory Lane Old Time Candy is located next to Oaks Hardware on the main road that runs through Fair Oaks Village.

"It's funny, actually," Thomas said. "When we were set up in Placerville we were located next to a hardware store too."

Before Thomas decided to open up a candy shop she was a book keeper and payroll specialist.

"I decided to have a mid-life crisis," Thomas laughed. "And luckily, one of my clients at the time was ready to have a mid-life crisis too."

So Thomas and her former client, Terry Wierschem, decided to invest their time into something a little different.

"Being a retired heating and air contractor, I was just tired of beating my body up," said Wierschem, manager of Memory Lane Old Time Candy. "I didn't want to sit in 150 degree attics anymore."

Both Thomas and Wierschem said their favorite part of the new business is being their own boss.

"We're the only employees," Thomas said. "And people don't come in grouchy to a candy shop."

Thomas said the old time candy and the homemade fudge are the two most popular items at the shop.

"I never knew how to make fudge, but I kind of just became an expert when we opened the shop," Thomas said. "Baptism by fire, I guess."

Thomas said Memory Lane Old Time Candy has old time candy that other candy shops may not.

"Lots of the elderly customers love horehound, which is kind of like a root beer throat lozenge, and walnettos, which is a chocolate caramel with nuts," Thomas said.

The candy shop also sells old time sodas like original Pepsi and Coca-Cola, Bubble Up and egg cream soda.

One client in particular was impressed by the old time candy.

"Walnettos! Look at that," she said. "Ah, the good old days."