Legacy of Vernon candy store owner endures to this day

Photo: Greater Vernon Museum and Archives

Nick Alexis is shown behind the counter at Nick's Kandy Kitchen (3017 30th Avenue) in 1947 or 1948.

It is a place that brings back many fond memories for Vernon residents.

The Kandy Kitchen started in 1921 by Greek immigrant Constantine Haros and the legacy it would build remains to this day.

Gus, as he was known, was an avid businessman, and alongside his partner George Mellos, opened the National Café a few years later.

Meanwhile, another family of recent immigrants from Greece was setting up a small confectionary and fruit stand in Victoria.

Theodore and Catherine Alexis had three children, Mary, Nick, and John, all of whom worked for the family business.

Gus’ brother John was a friend of the Alexis family, and knew all the children well. When he became involved with the National Café, he offered 16-year-old Nick a job in Vernon.

Nick's first job was washing dishes.

Nick’s work ethic so impressed Gus, he soon moved him to work at the Kandy Kitchen.

Later, Nick would purchase Gus’ share in both businesses, and by 1941, the confectionary shop began to be known as Nick’s Kandy Kitchen. In 1944, Nick married Gus’ daughter Helen, and two children, Nick Jr. and Margaret, soon followed.

Nick’s Kandy Kitchen was a centre of community activity, and that reputation continued despite the store closing 45 years ago.

A recent post on the Facebook page, Vintage Vernon BC, reveals memories of the business are swaddled in nostalgia. There is a certain universal appeal to a “retro” dinner like Nick’s, complete with long, high counters, stools that swivel and stick to bare legs in the summertime heat, burgers, milkshakes, and of course, confectionaries.

A stop at Nick’s appealed to people of all ages. While adults would sit at the counter chatting and sipping coffee, children would share milkshakes in tall-backed booths or listen to the jukebox.

The food is recalled in mouth-watering detail, from 25-cent burgers to peanut brittle to grilled butterhorns.

A friendship was kindled over a shared love of ketchup on fries, an expectant mother went into labour (much to her embarrassment), and a regular customer sold questionable Irish Sweepstake tickets, all in Nick’s hallowed halls.

Beyond the business, it is Nick himself who endures in Vernon’s collective memory. Exceptionally community-minded, he seemed to know everyone by name.

“Nick was one of my favourite people on the planet,” one individual said. He was “such a nice man,” another agreed. Someone even suggested that “the best excuse for being late for dinner was, ‘I was at Nick’s.’ Mom always knew I was safe.”

Although Nick Alexis passed away in 1990, I am sure he would be humbled to see just how much of an impact his business, and his community spirit, had on the citizens of Vernon, recalled so many years later.

The Vernon News published an article shortly after Nick's passing: “You didn’t have to know him too well before his infectious personality and good-hearted nature rubbed off on you in some way or another. Above all else, this may have been his greatest gift to the world, and certainly to the City of Vernon.”