Stuckey's

In the 1930s, with a Model A Ford coupe borrowed from a friend and $35 borrowed from his grandmother, W.S. Stuckey Sr., drove around the Eastman, Georgia countryside buying pecans from local farmers and selling them to pecan processors.[3] Stuckey made over $4,500 his first year in the pecan business.

By 1937, Stuckey was selling over $150,000 worth of pecans a year that he bought himself and sold to local processors. That same year, he opened a roadside stand along Highway 23 in Eastman selling pecans, sugar cane juice, syrup, homemade quilts, and “all you can drink for five-cents” cherry cider.[4]

Stuckey's advertisement from 1976 Rand McNally Road Atlas

Business increased after Stuckey's wife Ethel began making pecan pralines, after she came up with a recipe for pecan log rolls and added her own secret ingredient (maraschino cherries) to the mix. Business improved enough that Stuckey built his own store in Eastman, opening another store in Unadilla, Georgia soon after. Another soon followed in Hilliard, Florida with each Stuckey’s making their own candy on site.[4]

Stuckey’s franchise expansion was slowed by World War II when Stuckey was forced to close his Unadilla branch. During the war, Stuckey managed to stay afloat after buying a candy making factory in Jacksonville, Florida and securing government contracts making candy for the troops.[4]

After the war ended, Stuckey's business once again began to grow as it opened a number of new franchises. The company then constructed its own candy factory in Eastman to supply an eventual 350-plus Stuckey's stores located throughout the continental US. As the post-war baby boom flourished and families undertook more long-distance auto travel, Stuckey's continued to grow along major highways.[5]

A modern Stuckey's/BP in Yeehaw Junction, Florida

In the early 1960s, with over 368 stores across the country now filled with candy, novelty toys, and kitschy souvenirs, the franchise seemed to become something bigger than one man alone could handle.[6][7] As a result, Stuckey sold his franchise to Pet, Inc., maker of Pet Milk.[8]

W.S. Stuckey Sr. died in 1977, the same year that Illinois Central Industries, a Chicago conglomerate, bought Pet Milk Co., and they began to close Stuckey’s stores across the country.[9] By the end of the decade, only 75 original Stuckey’s stores remained.

In 1984, W.S. “Billy” Stuckey, Jr., son of the founder, repurchased Stuckey’s and began to turn the company around. Billy had a new idea for the company – Stuckey’s Express, a store-within-a-store concept that resulted in over 165 licensed Stuckey’s Express stores in 17 states.[10]

Stuckey’s “comeback” really began taking off, however, after W.S. Stuckey Sr.’s granddaughter, Ethel “Stephanie” Stuckey took her life’s savings, bought the company from her father and became its CEO in November 2019.[11]

In August 2020, Stuckey’s acquired Front Porch Pecans, a pecan snack company that sells to domestic and foreign markets, including grocery channels in the Southeast U.S.[12] With this merger, Stuckey’s gained management support and co-owner, R.G. Lamar, who was named as new President to run Stuckey’s with Stephanie.

In January 2021, Stephanie and R.G. acquired Atwell Pecans, The Orchards Gourmet, and Thames corporations to add candy making, pecan processing, and fundraising businesses to the company’s portfolio.[13] In this same year, Ted Wright invested in the company becoming the third co-owner. Ted is also the CEO of a word of mouth marketing and growth strategy company, Fizz and focuses on the marketing of all things Stuckey's.[14]

Today, Stuckey’s has 65 licensed locations, a distribution center based in Eastman, a pecan and candy plant to make their own Stuckey’s products, an active online business, and some 200 retailers that sell Stuckey’s pecan snacks and candies in over 5,000 outlets. With fresh leadership, new acquisitions, and increased market share for Georgia’s homegrown nut, the pecan, Stuckey’s is on the rebound.[15]

An abandoned Stuckey's restaurant and gas station along the freeway in 2004