Fanny Farmer

Fanny Farmer was an American candy manufacturer and retailer.[1]

Fanny Farmer was started in Rochester, New York by Frank O'Connor in 1919, and grew to over 400 stores before being bought and consolidated.[1][2] O'Connor had previously started the Laura Secord Candy Shops in Toronto, Canada in 1913. The company was named in honor of culinary expert Fannie Farmer, who had died four years earlier; she had nothing to do with the candy stores, and her recipes were not being used. "The spelling of the first name was altered to avoid confusion."[2] However, as a marketing device, it suggested reflected glory: high standards of quality.[3]

Fanny Farmer stores shared a look that was similar to that of Fannie May.[4][5]

John D. Hayes was president of the company for many years, from its earliest years through the 1950s. He was a shrewd businessman, and guided the company through some difficult times. During the Depression, candy sales were dropping until he slashed retail prices, and kept the company in business. During World War II, he self-imposed rationing on company stores in the US, to ensure adequate supplies of candy for the armed forces overseas. He was named 1955 "Candy Man of the Year" by the candy industry. He was also blind.[6]

In 1962, a proxy fight allowed a group of stock market investors from New York City & New England, without experience in the candy industry, to gain control of the Fanny Farmer company. They pushed for continuous expansion of the company, spending heavily to open more retail stores, despite facing increasing retail competition. This expansion by new management financially stressed the company.

In 1992, the Archibald Candy Company acquired the brand "Fanny Farmer"[3] and its 200 retail stores in the northeastern United States as a sister brand to its own Fannie May candies (sold primarily in the Midwest and mid-Atlantic United States).[7] Alpine Confections purchased both brands in 2004 after Archibald filed for bankruptcy, and merged Fanny Farmer into Fannie May. An errant path of merger and acquisitions, whereby the company became the largest chain of candy retailers in the country but without adequate financing and a viable corporate strategy, was blamed for the bankruptcy.[8]

In its iteration at 1-800-Flowers, the successor corporation sold Fannie May and Fanny Farmer products.[9]