If you’ve driven around Orr’s Island, chances are you’ve seen “Willy Wonka” on the road.
Melinda Richter’s vanity license plate, WLYWNKA, was her children’s idea. It’s an apt choice because, as owner of Island Candy Co. for 25 years, Richter is the island’s very own Willy Wonka.
Growing up on Orr’s Island, Richter went to Doughty’s Store and the Green Anchor ice cream shop. She can still see Ruth Doughty taking candy out of the case for her, and she fondly remembers the Sealtest ice cream at Green Anchor.
“(Island Candy) came to be with memories,” Richter said. “I just started thinking, ‘I want to do that. I want to put all those things together and do that.'”
Despite having no background in candy making, Richter committed herself to bringing a small-town candy store back to Orr’s Island. After seven years of planning, she opened Island Candy Co. in July of 2000.
The store is in a garage built by Richter’s father around 1975. Converting it into a candy store was a family effort. Her father and husband led the construction and remodeling, while her mother and mother-in-law helped develop candy recipes.
“The first couple of years were really scary,” Richter said.
She had left her job of 19 years at what is now Cook’s Lobster & Ale House to open the store. She had loved working at Cook’s, and it was hard to dive into the unknown of opening a new business.
Richter worked hard to learn the ins and outs of making each and every delicacy Island Candy has to offer — truffles, turtles, fudge and needhams, to name a few.
“I remember 14 times my fudges failed,” Richter said. “I remember making a fudge and just my heart beating and (thinking), ‘Will this come out?'”
About four years in, Island Candy started serving Shain’s of Maine ice cream. After that, business began to take off, as there was nowhere else to get ice cream on the islands. The shop has been offering Shain’s ever since.
Richter said she learned how to make most of her candies from videos, cooking classes and recipes her grandmother saved for her before she died. However, Richter doesn’t call herself a chocolatier. She prefers the title of candy maker.
“I was so green then that I didn’t even know, when I first opened, that you had to roast nuts,” Richter said.
When making candy in the kitchen, Richter’s favorite thing to snack on is white chocolate or needhams. However, her bestselling products are “anything caramel,” she said.
Richter credited her staff with contributing to the success of the business. She said many employees have found a niche with certain products they like to make. Some came to the store as kids before working for her for as long as 15 years.
She said the most rewarding part of running the business “is people coming back year after year and saying, ‘We couldn’t wait to get here. This was our first stop,” Richter said.
Richter is a Harpswell history buff and enjoys picking up historical anecdotes from customers. She belongs to an islands history group started by her and her cousins that meets weekly.
She said that through the years, Island Candy has weathered difficult moments. There were the early struggles and, more recently, the challenge of following public health protocols during the coronavirus pandemic. Current issues include inflation — the price of chocolate has gone up from about $300 to $500 per case since November 2024, she said.
But during her 25 years in business, Richter said the main lessons she has learned are “kindness, patience and community.”
“Everybody’s got a story,” Richter said. “Everybody can be kind.”
Richter said she feels a strong sense of community with surrounding businesses. She counts Pam Douglas, owner of Pammy’s Ice Cream Parlor on Harpswell Neck, as a good friend.
Looking toward the future of Island Candy Co., Richter said she hopes to continue business as usual and keep putting out good products. She has had offers to expand or open new locations, but she has declined every time.
She loves the “sense of camaraderie and the small-town feel” of Harpswell, she said. “I just like it here. I like being here.”
