Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - 17
Then his wife had an even better idea:
Why not sell candy?
'Her specialty was
her pecan log roll.'
PHOTOS COURTESY STUCKEY'S CORP.
-Bill Stuckey
Top: Workers assemble and package Stuckey's world-famous confections. Above: Signs at the Eastman Stuckey's location encouraged
guests to buy and ship nuts and candy while stopping for gas and
refreshments.
Above: Ladies show off boxes of Stuckey's fine pecan candies that
were sold at 350-plus stores during the company's heyday. Today,
Stuckey's stores are in 80 franchised locations across the U.S.
aunt produced sweets in the back room. Though sales lagged
during the war years, when sugar was scarce, they took off in the
late 1940s after people resumed traveling. W.S. opened another
store in Unadilla, one in Florida and another half-dozen in rapid
succession. But the concept that put Stuckey's on the map was
its partnership with Texaco.
"It was probably the most profitable thing he [W.S.] did,"
Stuckey says. "The first few stores had a Texaco with them, and
eventually he got 3.5 cents for every gallon sold. That was a heck
of a rebate when gas was 30 cents."
Stuckey's also benefited from Texaco's having one of the
first credit cards that could be used nationwide-a nice incentive when Stuckey's branched out into 44 states and joined
Texaco and Howard Johnson as the few companies doing business along the highways. Drivers were enticed by billboards
bearing the Stuckey's motto-"Relax, refresh and refuel"-and
rest stops that offered quick bites, gas and clean
restrooms. That last feature landed
Stuckey's in "Green Book."
"You'll notice [that] in the movie
they're drinking from cups with
the Stuckey's name, and they show
a Stuckey's billboard," Stuckey says.
"That's because my father was an entrepreneur who wanted
to make money, so we never had segregated restrooms. Blacks
could plan their trips to stop at our stores to get gas and eat."
And everyone could shop. The Stuckey's inventory soon
exploded beyond candy with jellies, jams, T-shirts, University of
Georgia and University of Florida spirit wear, novelty items and
toasted, salted, sugared and spiced pecans.
"The women's room was back on the right, and on the way,
they'd see all this stuff they couldn't pass up," says Charles Williams, president of the Eastman-Dodge County Area Chamber
and Development Authority, who remembers W.S. giving him
$5 when he turned 5 in 1956. "He had Davy Crockett hats, rubber alligators and snakes; kids traveling were miserable and hot,
but you could get 100 miles of fun out of a rubber snake. And he
had hamburgers, footlong hot dogs, milkshakes and drinks, and
he air-conditioned the stores, which was unheard-of. He was
brilliant and 50 years ahead of his time."
W.S. also affected his hometown in
other ways, Williams says.
"For instance, he introduced
aviation to our community when he
bought a Piper Aztec plane to fly in and
out on, and we built the airport back in
www.georgiamagazine.org
17
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Georgia Magazine - May 2019
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - May 2019
Contents
Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - Intro
Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - Cover1
Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - Cover2
Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - Contents
Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - 4
Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - 5
Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - 6
Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - 7
Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - 8
Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - 9
Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - 10
Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - 11
Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - 12
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Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - 14
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Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - 16
Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - 17
Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - 18
Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - 19
Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - 20
Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - 21
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Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - 46
Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - Cover3
Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - Cover4
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