Russell Stover Candies

A trip to the Russell Stover Candy Outlet wasn’t on my itinerary when I planned my trip to Kansas, but someone suggested it and I had time so why not?
Abilene is a bit of a drive from Kansas City, a little over 2 hours, but I don’t think I’d drive out again unless it’s on the way to another destination.
The store itself had an interesting layout. Upon walking in, there was a video playing about the history of Russell Stover, but I wouldn’t consider that a tour. In fact, there is NO tour. The middle of the store included many flavors of delicious ice cream, which of course I bought a generous scoop.
Aisles of different types of Russell Stover Candies ranging from holiday classics to limited editions to the usual. The «outlet» items, some more rejected than others, were located in the back room section of the store. Those are heavily discounted and some of them were «surprise» packages sold in bulk labeled as «bloopers.»
I ended up buying the individual holiday chocolates with cool flavors such red velvet, caramel, pecan, dark, and etc. for my co-​workers. These were easy to store in my carry-​on luggage and they made great stocking stuffers.
I enjoyed my visit here, I may stop by if it’s along the way to pick up more «useful» and edible souvenirs.

A must see to visit the candy store, candy facility next door. I don’t know if there is a guided tour of the production facility, we only stopped to visit the candy shoppe.

If you find yourself screaming across Kansas on I-​70, you might want to consider jumping off at the Russel Stover Factory that sits facing the highway in Abilene.
I couldn’t find where there was any tours of the factory itself, but what will interest most is the store attached.
The front of the store is a basic Russell Stover store, its the back room where bargain hunters like me will find bliss. All the discount stuff. There was stacks and stacks of Valentine, Easter and Halloween candies that were on medium to large discount prices. Along one was was white generic looking boxes that were marked as boo-​boo candies. In English, the seconds off the line that were not quite perfect but still edible.
They were separated into what type of candy they were in large boxes. Prices varied on these depending on their content. Some of them were incredible bargains, others were priced a little more than I would give for seconds, but its definitely worth looking.
We came away with a trunk full of items for about $ 30.
Buying in bulk lowers the price per box considerably, so join forces with your peeps and split a 10 box purchase, your wallet will be happy.