Customers soon filled the comments with questions about whether the closure rumors were true. Days later, the sign on the storefront confirmed that the company’s long retail run was nearing its end.
A business reclaimed after a poker loss
The Lammes story began in 1878, when William Wirt Lamme started the Red Front Candy Factory in Austin.
In 1885, Lamme lost the business in a poker game. His son, David Turner Lamme Sr., later came to Austin, paid the $800 gambling debt, and reclaimed the store.
Lammes Candies officially opened under the family name on July 10, 1885. The company remained family-owned and operated for more than a century.
With the Round Rock store closed and the Airport Boulevard shop operating only for a short period, one of Austin’s oldest candy names is preparing for its final chapter.
