Easter weekend means big business for some Philadelphia stores

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The holiday weekend means big sales for some businesses like candy stores and butchers, as families get ready to prep their baskets and make Easter dinner.

Inside Shane Confectionery, the oldest candy store in America, staffers are hard at work churning out chocolates, as they've done on Market Street since the 1860s.

"I think this guy might be my favorite right now. He's a little gentleman rabbit," said director of design Pavia Burroughs, showing off the display.

Sweet Easter treats like buttercream eggs and chocolate bunnies are front and center in the store this weekend as regulars and new customers alike come to discover the history there.

"People come in here and they're like, 'I've lived in Philly 50 years and I've never been here,'" said Burroughs.

While the store itself pays homage to its charming history with tried and true candy-making measures, what keeps customers coming back is the product.

"This was a sample, definitely recommend and then we also got the drinking chocolate back there," said Idalia Deever, who was visiting the city from Kentucky.

She was delighted to stumble on the historic store, despite prices being a bit higher than they were more than 100 years ago.

"We used to get price increases maybe once a year from our vendors, but now we're getting them every three, four months," said Burroughs.

The inflation woes are certainly impacting the holiday. The Action News data journalism team found cocoa prices have soared to more than double this time last year.

From candy to Easter ham, however, customers say they still prefer to pay up and shop small

"I support small businesses 100%, every chance I get," said Brandon Miller from Germantown, who was shopping at Reading Terminal Market for an Easter feast for his students.

He bought some meats from Martin's Meat and Sausage, where the manager helped prep the weekend's top sellers.

"This is up there. We specialize in sausage so we're selling a lot of fresh kielbasa. Lot of smoked kielbasa. It's a big holiday item for Easter," said Wayne Baranek.

It's the quality customers want, and at places like Shane's, the history that keeps them coming back.

"I cannot believe we just accidentally found the oldest candy store in America. That is so cool," said Deever.