Minnesota's Largest Candy Store, an iconic roadside destination for treats from lollipops and chocolate to pasta and pickles, is planning to move to a new building on a new site.
The relocation is driven by a long-discussed interchange project on Hwy. 169. Under Minnesota Department of Transportation rules, the candy store would be too close to the updated highway and its access to the thoroughfare would have to be cut off.
"We fought it vigorously. We did our own traffic studies. We had this access for half a century," owner Robert Wagner said.
A solution arose when Scott County officials suggested a land swap. The store sits on a 17-acre site in St. Lawrence Township and will move to a 48-acre site in Jordan that's now farmland. Being inside the city limits will give the store access to utilities such as water and sewer. The current site is surrounded by wetlands, which constrained expansion.
Scott County will lead the $13 million Hwy. 169 interchange project, which has been in the works for decades, county Transportation Services Director Lisa Freese said.
The land swap gives the candy store a larger site for future expansion.
"I think it's a great resolution," Freese said.
Wagner, 63, said the new store will cover 2 acres, cost $20 million and take three years to build.
The current building, which Wagner said drew 800,000 visitors in 2023, is distinct: "A lot of people call it the big yellow barn," he said.
Wagner's father started retail businesses selling apples and bakery items in 1955, and the younger Wagner joined the operation in 2000. When a hailstorm damaged the apple harvest in 2005, they began to explore new retail options.
"We started experimenting with all kinds of products," Wagner said. One of those ideas was candy.
Scott County will ultimately raze the existing building, which was built in 1978. Over the years, it has undergone six major additions driven by the candy business and now covers an acre. Jim's Apple Farm remains part of the operation.
Wagner, now the store's sole proprietor after his father died in 2016, declined to disclose annual sales figures for the privately held business.
The current store will close Dec. 1, 2026, and the new store will open the following May 1 after the business's seasonal schedule.
