An iconic candy shop along the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk in Delaware will soon relocate from the beachside property from which it served treats to generations of beachgoers.
Dolle’s Candyland will move from its current location at 1 Rehoboth Ave. after the current lease expires on Jan. 31, the Cape Gazette reported Saturday.
It will end a nearly century-long presence on the Rehoboth boardwalk, though candy lovers shouldn’t fret — Dolle’s will continue nearby as part of Ibach’s Candy By the Sea.
“This is a high-rent district and a space can’t just be used for production. It’s got to be generating revenue,” owner Tom Ibach told the Gazette.
He wants to downsize after the property’s landlord asked for double the rent.
The business struggled over the summer with fewer international students to employ as the pandemic dragged down air travel.
The move will likely mean the end of the old red Dolle’s sign, which has been a prominent feature of the boardwalk for decades. Ibach has an agreement in place to let it stand through the end of 2021, though he eventually wants bring it down to avoid misleading visitors.
Ibach is unsure if he’ll be allowed to move it, since the sign is grandfathered into a set of rules that predates the community’s current sign regulations.
Dolle’s Candyland was founded in 1926 by Thomas Pachides and Rudolph Dolle. The Rehoboth-based business is owned and operated independently from the Ocean City, Maryland, candy shops of the same name; Ibach’s grandfather purchased the Dolle family’s share of the Rehoboth business in the late 1950s.
