Easter Bunny delivers curbside candy in Berks
Nothing would stop Jon Leight from getting his homemade Easter candy from Reppert’s Candy in Oley Township — not even the coronavirus pandemic.
Leight drove 45 minutes from his Lansdale, Montgomery County, home to the candy store on April 2 to pick up his phone order of candy curbside.
“I’ve been coming here for 15 years to get candy for my choir,” Leight said, as he was greeted by an Easter Bunny. “It’s the best candy.”
Leight, a music director at St. Luke’s United Church of Christ,
North Wales, Montgomery County, typically purchases 40 boxes of candy for his choir.
But the church is closed, and the choir is not singing.
So, Leight picked up four boxes for a few friends.
This is the first Easter in 75 years that Reppert’s has been in business that the candy company has had a hard time finding homes for thousands of Easter bunnies.
Keith Schell, owner, said after Gov. Tom Wolf’s March 12 order to close schools and for non-essential workers to stay home, schools and civic organizations canceled orders, but the thousands of bunnies and chocolate filled eggs were
already made.
Schell came up with the idea to provide curbside pickup in the store lot.
Schell temporarily furloughed about 24 employees, keeping only a half dozen in the store to prepare orders.
The store is open and orders are being taken over the phone.
The Easter bunny played by Ashley Reinstein, 20, of Oley Township, delivers the treats to customers in cars.
“We’re getting a lot of phone orders,” said Reinstein, a Kutztown University student.
Employee Julia Moyer, 19, of Fleetwood, worked behind the
counter filling candy boxes. “It’s been steady,” she said. Employees are wiping down the counters and maintaining social distance.
Still, Schell said, the chocolate store is losing a lot of business.
The company plans to donate lots of bunnies and other treats to Tower Health Pottstown Hospital on Wednesday.
Schell also thanked Metis Pro Quantic ecommerce based in Berwyn, Chester County, for providing a website for customers to call in orders. The store is open 10 a.m to 6 p.m. daily.
To place an order, visit Reppertscandy.com.