Since there are only about ten thousand of them left, buffalo nickels are rare. In fact, some are worth thousands of dollars.

Though it’s newly minted—opening in May 2023—The Buffalo Nickel Vintage Candies in Atoka offers an experience equally rare but much more valuable: a sweet destination the whole family can savor together while also helping to revitalize a small town.

Cory Richards grew up in Stringtown, and his wife Kelly was born in Tushka.

“Atoka is where we had our first jobs, where we had to come to get our driver’s licenses, and where we dated,” Cory says.

The Buffalo Nickel Vintage Candies was opened by Cory and Kelly Richards in May 2023. Photo by Saxon Smith / Oklahoma Tourism

The Richards family was very close with famous fellow southeastern Oklahoma residents, the McEntires.

“Our families go back about five generations,” Cory says. “Reba’s niece Garrett Smith grew up right across the street from us.”

A few years ago, when Reba McEntire and the Choctaw Nation paired up to create a restaurant inspired by the red-headed country legend, Smith suggested the Richards open a shop downtown that could complement, not compete with, the Reba’s Place experience.

“While I was growing up, my family would spend some of our vacations in Branson, Missouri, at Silver Dollar City, and we loved getting saltwater taffy together,” says Cory. “We also had great aunts and uncles who owned stores, so going to get candy as a kid was a really special thing.”

The Richards sell hundreds of candies by the pound, including sixty-three types of saltwater taffy. Photo by Saxon Smith / Oklahoma Tourism

When the space right next door to the eatery became available, Cory, Kelly, and his parents Sonny and Becky decided to open an old-fashioned candy shop.

Today, people come from around the world—not an exaggeration since they’ve had visitors from all fifty states and thirty-nine countries so far—to enjoy more than three hundred different sweets. The most popular are undoubtedly the truffles from Vermont, which come in thirty flavor combinations, including the best-selling sea salt caramel, dark chocolate coffee, and milk chocolate orange.

“I’m not normally a coffee drinker, but those dark chocolate coffee truffles are dangerous,” Cory says.

So far, the Richards have sold nearly sixteen thousand truffles, but there are treats for every taste bud in the store. There’s a variety of fudge, cotton candy, Bedré chocolates, sugar-free options, caramel corn, and sixty-three kinds of saltwater taffy. Older customers also might see some long-forgotten favorites, like Abba-Zaba bars, Astro Pops, and candy cigarettes.

That’s not to say the shop is stuck in the past, however. The Richards stock plenty of freeze-fried gummy bears, Skittles, malted milk balls, Fruit Roll-Ups, and more light and crunchy confections fresh from Kimmer’s Sweets in McAlester.

This throwback candy shop allows customers to taste the rainbow in southeast Oklahoma. Photo by Saxon Smith / Oklahoma Tourism

For those who’d rather drink their dessert or need energy to recuperate from browsing the Buffalo Nickel’s impressive inventory, the Richards also opened the Atoka-Cola Soda Shop and Coffee Bar across the street.

“You can come in, sit at the bar on a stool, and enjoy an old-fashioned root beer float in a frosty mug,” Cory says.

If folks aren’t charmed by the nostalgia, they certainly will be by the delicious drinks. Cory also makes shakes, malts, hot or iced espresso drinks, and the dirty sodas that keep popping up on social media. The Sasquatch—with root beer, cream, caramel, and chocolate—is the number- one seller.

Whether they choose to enjoy treats in a glass or wrapped in wax paper, it’s certain visitors will leave Atoka with some sweet memories—and knowing their dollars are bringing new life to a small town is just icing on the truffle.

Written By

Karlie Ybarra

Managing editor Karlie Ybarra loves to explore her home state—and meet many of its animal citizens—any chance she gets.