SWEET RESCUE

Fort Worth Stockyards developers purchase iconic Texas candy brand

Lammes Candies’ neon lamb sign announces the Austin candy maker’s return after it appeared to be closing for good.

Courtesy of Lammes Candies

A Fort Worth hospitality duo has stepped in to rescue one of Texas' oldest and most beloved candy brands.

Austin's Lammes Candies looked like it had reached the end of its 141-year run in April, when the confectionery announced it would close. But its death was short-lived.

Craig Cavileer and Kayla Wilkie-Kinne of Fort Worth-based Delightful Development Co., known for leading the revival of the historic Fort Worth Stockyards, have acquired Lammes in partnership with the Lammes Candies family.

The Lamme family will remain involved in the transition and preservation of the company’s recipes and traditions, according to a release. The first sweets are already on their way back: Sherbet Mints, Longhorns, and Texas Chewie Pecan Pralines in legacy boxes.

“Our vision isn’t to change what Lammes Candies is known for,” Wilkie-Kinne said in the announcement of the sale. “It’s to bring back the legacy recipes, traditions and heritage that made Lammes so special for 141 years.”

For now, Lammes’ return is happening solely online. A separate Austin developer purchased the former Lammes building this spring. There's no indication that Cavileer and Wilkie-Kinne will bring any part of the company to Fort Worth.

Preorders opened September 29, with nationwide shipping set to begin November 1. A fuller relaunch is planned for spring 2027, although no brick-and-mortar plans have been announced yet. Texans will be able to buy products from retail locations around the state.

Lammes’ holiday Sherbet Mints are among the first sweets returning in a limited legacy-box run.Photo courtesy of Lammes Candies

For generations of customers, Lammes was tied not just to candy, but to holiday gift boxes, Valentine’s chocolate-covered strawberries, chewy pralines, and the familiar candy cane pole outside its Airport Boulevard shop.

Lammes’ history began in downtown Austin. David T. Lamme Sr. opened his first candy shop at Eighth and Congress in 1885, later moving to 919 Congress and establishing the Red Front Candy Shop. The company’s chewy pecan pralines date to the 1890s, when Lamme used pecans from trees along the Colorado River. The lamb logo was adopted so customers would know how to pronounce the family name.

Over the decades, Lammes grew from a downtown candy shop into one of Austin’s most recognizable legacy businesses. Its Airport Boulevard factory opened in 1956, marked by the neon lamb sign and striped candy cane pole. Three generations of the Lamme family ran the business there.

Although the brand is most closely associated with Austin, where it maintained its production facilities and retail stores, the pralines and other candies are widely available at spots like Spec's, Walmart, and Central Market throughout Dallas-Fort Worth.

Cavileer and Wilkie-Kinne headed the modern redevelopment of the Fort Worth Stockyards, including Mule Alley and Hotel Drover. Delightful Development has also purchased the historic Williamson County Jail in Georgetown, another landmark property being considered for adaptive reuse. Their new company was founded in 2025 to develop hospitality destinations and build on legacy brands in Texas.

“Lammes Candies is more than a confection and candy company,” Wilkie-Kinne says in the release. “It’s a significant piece of Texas history that Craig and I will honor, preserve and celebrate with future generations of Texans and customers around the country.”

Lammes Christmas and Easter Sherbet Mints will be available at select Cracker Barrel Old Country Store locations nationwide. Details on future restocks and new releases have not yet been announced. Updates will be posted at lammes.com and on Instagram.

candy desserts hotel drover mule alley openings reopenings

Scooping out

Morgan's Ice Cream to close after 6 years in Near Southside Fort Worth

A cup of Morgan's ice cream with blueberries and Biscoff cookies

Photo courtesy of Morgan's Ice Cream

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A beloved family-owned ice cream shop in Fort Worth’s Near Southside is closing after six sweet years: Morgan’s Ice Cream, at 321 S. Main St., broke the news in a September 26 Facebook post, telling customers that after six years on South Main, they were closing their doors.

The doors are not locked quite yet.

The shop closed temporarily September 27, but Morgan’s posted an update saying it would reopen September 28 and 29 from 5-9 pm. For now, customers can also preorder pints and 2.5-gallon tubs through the shop’s website for pickup October 1 from 7-9 pm. (As of September 28, $11 pints have sold out on their website.)

A September 28 Facebook story said the next round of pint and 2.5-gallon orders would open October 3, for pickups October 8.

The last day of scooping will be Saturday, October 10 from 12-10 pm or until sell-out, they say.

“We have spent so much time, energy, money, blood and sweat and tears into building this brand (and having the best ice cream on planet Earth!),” the owners wrote in the closure announcement. “BUT GOD. He’s put us on a new path and we follow where He leads!”

They did not elaborate on what that new path entails. CultureMap has reached out to the owners for more information on their closing timeline and next plans.

Owners Jeff and Stephanie Brannon got into the ice cream business in 2020, when they took over the former Gypsy Scoops at the South Main address. They rebranded the shop as Morgan’s, using Stephanie’s middle name.

The couple launched Morgan’s during the pandemic with a small-batch approach, making homemade-style ice cream with a focus on distinctive flavors and fun mix-ins. The menu included seven anchor flavors, such as Honey, Not So Vanilla, Wookies Cookies, Cookie Monster and Strawberry Magic, along with four rotating flavors each month.

“We are definitely not the place that’s going to have 32 flavors of sub-par ice cream,” Jeff told CultureMap in a 2024 story. “We’re going to make sure the product we put out is the absolute best.”

Morgan’s became known for its pink-hued interior and creative flavors, as well as its unusual no-samples policy. Jeff said the owners were confident enough in their ice cream that they would rather replace a scoop than offer samples of everything.

The Brannons opened a second Morgan’s in Burleson in 2022, but that location has since closed.

The couple had previously been in the coffee business, launching Dwell Coffee & Biscuits in Burleson in 2014. Stephanie has overseen recipe development at Morgan’s, while Jeff has handled marketing and customer relations.

In its September 26 farewell, Morgan’s thanked its customers for supporting the shop over the past six years and said they had “shown us so much grace and compassion.”

“We know, we know,” the owners wrote. “This will rock some of you to the core! We have some DIE. HARD. FANS! And we LOVE YOUUUUU!”

Commenters expressed surprise and sadness, with a few lamenting the loss of really great non-dairy ice cream. Others said Morgan's had become a family favorite and wished the owners well.

The owners say they'll make good on customers' unused gift cards: "If you have a gift card with a large amount on it - DM us or send an email to: hello@morgansicecreamco.com - we have some ideas on how to use it up!"

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