This California candy maker — a favorite among national park tourists — has new owner

Reimer’s Candies & Gifts, a favorite stop for chocolate-dipped goodies and ice cream in central California, has a new owner.

The candy store based in Three Rivers in Tulare County — with locations in Oakhurst and Avila Beach — is now owned by another longtime sweets maker in the central San Joaquin Valley, Stafford’s Chocolates of Porterville.

Reimer’s stores have drawn Fresnans and global tourists alike to its locations just outside the southern entrances of Yosemite National Park off Highway 41 in Madera County and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park off Highway 198 in Tulare County.

Many have stopped after a hike to reward themselves with an ice cream cone, a Grand Marnier-filled truffle, or the top-selling turtle, featuring chocolate and caramel atop a bed of California-grown walnuts and pecans.

Reimer’s is almost 70 years old. Its third owners, Lynn and Mary Anne Bretz, could not be reached for comment.

Reimer’s will keep its name, its three locations and its general vibe, said Rob Taylor, owner of Stafford’s Chocolates.

“Just being an old-fashioned, whimsical, gingerbread-style structure ... I have a lot of folks tell me it’s like Disneyland,” he said. “There’s a lot of little secrets and things to experience. The ice cream is made right there.”

Each Reimer’s locations has maps overrun with colored stick pins where customers have marked where they’re visiting from.

“You can definitely tell that it is internationally known and loved, also by the addresses that we’re shipping product to this time of year. We’re shipping stuff all over Europe, all over the East Coast. There’s a lot of famous people that buy stollen bread this time of year,” said Taylor, referencing the German bread.

Bought by another local chocolate maker

Stafford’s is a longtime local company too, founded in 1987. Taylor and his family bought it 12 years ago after founder Larry Stafford died.

“Together, you’re looking at 100 years of chocolate making,” Taylor said of the two companies.

Stafford’s top seller is the ooey gooey bar that Stafford invented, made with scratch-made marshmallows, caramel, and peanut butter, dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with nuts.

Nuts for the candies are grown within about 30 minutes of the store, and the dairy products come from Hanford-based Rosa Brothers. Even the blackberries in the blackberry ice cream at Reimer’s were picked nearby.

“We’re all about fresh, local products,” Taylor said.

Stafford’s also recently bought Mama Ganache Artisan Chocolates in San Luis Obispo and the Swedish Candy Factory in Solvang.

Some changes will come to the stores, Taylor said, because the company now has three locations (Three Rivers, Porterville and San Luis Obispo) making chocolate.

“I think we will take the best recipes from each location and try to consolidate,” he said, adding that Three Rivers will continue to make candy.

When Stafford’s announced news of the sale on Facebook, it was met with plenty of congratulations.

Said commenter Cheri Fitton: “It is such a gift to have someone who loves the area and loves their passion to takeover your business. This is definitely a win win situation for you all. P.S. please continue to stock black walnut ice cream.”