Historic Canelake's Candies to Open Expansion Next Door on 416 Chestnut Street

Canelake’s Candies recently announced what Pamela Canelake Matson calls, “A sweet new expansion to the original Canelake’s Candies to open June 1st.”  Says Canelake Matson, “Come and help us celebrate and enjoy the new building that offers an added candy museum, Iron Range memorabilia, Minnetonka Moccasins, t-shirts and new Canelake’s Caramel Corn and trail mixes in many varieties!” She added, “We wouldn't have dreamt of doing this without our amazing employees and the terrific support of our customers.” 

The 416 building next to Canelake’s Candies was built in 1904 and has been completely restored by the Canelake family. The exterior was finished to look like the original and features hand painted sign panels designed and painted by co-owner Patricia Canelake. Canelake has added art inside as well, a directional mileage totem to show visitors all the attractions nearby and colorful bear and candy maker cutouts and fun sidewalk signs. Canelake’s expansion will include a candy museum, with Canelake’s memories and antique candy machines, many still used for cooking candies today. The new space is directly connected to the original Canelake’s Candies and will also include historic Iron Range memorabilia, advertising and other other interesting artifacts. 

Canelake Matson also noted, “We’re excited about our new ‘Handmade in Minnesota’ corner featuring Pat, Cindy and Katie Rogers’ woodworking, gnomes and more, Kathy Rogers Schlotec’s Stone Obsession Jewelry,  Susan Hubbartt’s  retro aprons, totes, hotpads, and Peggy Hejda’s Suncatchers.”  Canelake Matson also highlighted additional space for some new sweets, including expanded licorice selections, handmade caramel corn, Chocolate drizzled, Nutty and Mesabi Mix varieties!

Canelake’s will offer samples of its newest caramel corn varieties throughout opening day on June 1 - available while they last! Also, Canelake’s expansion opening date coincides with “MN Scoop” a statewide ice cream social sponsored by Explore Minnesota. Customers will have their MN Scoop Card stamped for each purchase at Canelake’s famous soda fountain. After 6 stamps, participants will be eligible to enter to win prizes from MNScoop online. 

The building is conveniently located next to the new pass-through pocket park built by the City of Virginia and the IRRRB. The building was purchased in January 2020 with restoration beginning in June 2020 and now finished after 12 months of intensive work. Interior walls were gutted and the floor was replaced, Exterior brick and windows were also replaced. The building was once owned by Carl Pederson and housed Pederson Photo Studios for many years. Says co-owner Chris Canelake, “This expansion is special also because of the longtime friendships between the Pederson and Canelake families.” 

This project was supported by the City of Virginia Virginia Economic Development Authority (VEDA), Revive Virginia, the Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Association (AEOA) and the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) with grants that helped make the renovation possible.

Lenci Construction, along with many subcontractors - B&K Electric, Heisel Bros, Range Cornice, DSGW Architecture, W. A. Fisher, NTS Environmental Science & Engineering, ACCT Inc, Streeter Construction, and others - were involved in the renovation and were much appreciated by the Canelake family for their ingenuity and expertise in this complicated project. 

Canelake’s Candies is a Virginia landmark, and in its 117th year, is the oldest candy store in the entire State of Minnesota. Canelake’s was founded as the Virginia Candy Kitchen in 1905 by brothers Chris, Gust, Tom, and Nick Canelake several years after they immigrated from their village in Peloponnese Greece. Early on, brothers Chris and Nick moved to Hibbing to start the Hibbing Candy Kitchen. Gust remained at the current Canelake’s Candies, and Tom opened the Olympia Candy Kitchen in the First National Bank Building. Gust’s sons, John and Leo, took over the operations at Canelake’s in 1945, selling to Jim Cina in 1982. After Jim retired in 2018, John’s children, Pamela (Dennis), Patricia, John and Chris Canelake brought the store back into the Canelake family. They are training future generations to continue the tradition for the coming decades!