Try googling “Stuckey’s” and “comeback.” You’ll get a lot of results.

For Americans of a certain age, the classic brand represents the excitement and unlimited possibilities of the open road. At its peak, the Stuckey’s chain of innovative roadside convenience stores—famous for its kitschy souvenirs, pecan log roll candies, and other tasty treats—boasted some 370 locations across 30 states. 

For Americans of a slightly younger age, Stuckey’s is perhaps most remembered for the crumbling remains of those once vibrant stores. The late 20th century was not kind to Stuckey’s as its once innovative niche wasusurped by the Wawas, QTs, and Buc-ee’s of the world. 

But in recent years, a new story has emerged. 

The Stuckey’s brand has refocused and returned to its roots as a pecan and candy company. And it’s becoming more popular—and profitable—each year. 

A comeback?

Don’t call it that. 

“It’s a ‘coming back’ story,” says Stephanie Stuckey AB ’88, JD ’92, the company’s chair and the granddaughter of its founder. “It’s an action word. And we’re not there yet.”

And Stuckey is all about action. Since the day she used her own money to buy the company from investors in 2019, Stuckey has worked ceaselessly to revive it. She streamlined its business, brought in new partners, opened a factory, and refreshed the Stuckey’s look. She travels anywhere and everywhere to personally promote Stuckey’s products, handing them out from the trunk of her car. 

Just like her grandfather did. 

Hitting the Road

Stephanie Stuckey was born in the tiny town of Eastman (pop. 5,513), southeast of Macon, but she grew up in Washington, D.C.

That’s where her father, Rep. Billy Stuckey BBA ’56, LLB ’59, served five terms in Congress. But the company’s story starts with Stephanie’s grandfather, Sylvester. 

In 1937, amid the Great Depression, Sylvester Stuckey dropped out of the UGA School of Law. To make ends meet, he sold pecans and pecan treats made by his wife, Ethel, first from the back of his truck and then from a roadside stand. And that’s where the Stuckey’s brand was born. 

Through World War II and into the interstate age of the 1950s and 1960s, blue-roofed Stuckey’s stores stood as an integral part of the American road trip. They stayed that way until Sylvester, tired from the grind, sold the brand to corporate interests, which treated Stuckey’s as an afterthought. A slow, steady decline followed. 

By the time Stephanie came along, even though stores carried her name, she didn’t feel particularly attached. 

“We took road trips, and we’d stop at Stuckey’s, but it wasn’t like I thought a lot about it,” Stuckey says. 

After earning her bachelor’s in French and a law degree from UGA, Stuckey didn’t exactly run away from the brand that carried her family name, but she worked hard to establish herself beyond it. 

She worked as a public defender in DeKalb County before opening her own firm. In 1999, Stuckey entered politics and served seven terms in the Georgia House before stepping away to lead an Atlanta-based public interest law firm. Stuckey followed that up by serving in two different roles with the City of Atlanta. 

A Brand Worth Saving

All her life, Stuckey heard stories from friends, family, and even strangers about what Stuckey’s meant to them. More than just a store, Stuckey’s was a meeting point, an oasis, an escape. It’s those stories that helped inspire Stuckey to reclaim her family’s company. 

“There are these special brands and places that are part of our shared collective memories, and a lot of them are going away,” Stuckey says. “I just think these things are worth saving. And how often do you get a chance to bring back a nostalgic brand that has your family name on it?”

UGA helped get her started. 

Stuckey worked with UGA’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to draft the company’s first business plan. The SBDC also lent a hand with Stuckey’s first marketing plan, as well as a merger plan with R.G. Lamar’s Front Porch brand pecans. That led to the purchase of a roughly 46,000-square-foot facility in Wrens, 90 minutes southeast of Athens, that serves as Stuckey’s candy factory and corporate headquarters. 

It’s all part of Stuckey’s (the business and the person) new story. 

Stuckey’s fresh ideas include a pivot away from roadside locations. Fewer than 20 freestanding Stuckey’s stores exist these days. Now, the focus is getting Stuckey’s products on grocery and convenience store shelves (the brand is now available in more than 4,000 retail locations nationwide) and leveraging its increasingly robust online business. 

The new efforts are paying off. Sales across the board have increased each year since Stuckey bought the company, and in 2024, revenues rose above $10 million. 

Becoming UnStuck

She’s in Wrens a couple days a week, pitching in whenever needed and running the headquarters’ charming gift shop. Stuckey is the company’s lead marketer and she runs the website. She is also an in-demand speaker, meeting with audiences of all types, and she is a fixture at fairs and festivals, selling Stuckey’s treats out of the back of her car. For those Stuckey can’t meet in person, her social media presence is energetic and irreverent. 

In 2024, she released her memoir, UnStuck: Rebirth of an American Icon, which dives deeper into the Stuckey’s story that she writes and rewrites every day.

“I haven’t quite decided what that moment of success will look like,” Stuckey says. “Sometimes I think of it in terms of how much revenue we make. But the more I think about it, success means that we are making a difference in people’s lives. That’s really what it’s about.”