Margie's Candies

Margie’s Candies is the name of two popular confectioneries on the north side of Chicago, Illinois. Owned by the same family, each one is part candy store and part sit-down ice cream parlor. The older of the two establishments has been operating at the same location for more than nine decades and is widely considered a “Chicago legend”.

History

Original Margie’s

The original Margie’s is located on Western Avenue in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood. Initially known as the Security Sweet Shop, it was founded in 1921 by a Greek immigrant named Peter George Poulos, who soon handed the business to his son George. Chicago mobster Al Capone allegedly patronized the sweet shop during its early years.

In 1933, George Poulos renamed the confectionery Margie’s Candies in honor of his wife, whom he had met at the sweet shop as a youngster. Margie herself began running the business during the 1940s while her husband was serving in the military, and she took full control in 1954 after her husband died of an ulcer. She never remarried, and for the next forty years, she regularly worked in the restaurant for about 15 hours a day, becoming a familiar sight for customers.