Sky Bar at Duck Soup

In Sudbury, there’s a beloved store with a little bit of something for everyone. Wine, cheese, unique spirits, cool household goods, and candy are just a few joys you will find at Duck Soup. The store even offers cooking classes and makes swoon-worthy gift baskets. But, when Louise Mawhinney rescued the cherished Sky Bar during Necco’s 2018 bankruptcy auction, Duck Soup and Louise were catapulted to candy hero status. The Sky Bar, with its four different creamy centers, is now made at the Sudbury store and sold nationwide. So, with the biggest candy holiday just around the corner, we were thrilled to be able to chat with the Sky Bar savior.

1. We adore Duck Soup. From cool kitchen gadgets to confectionaries to gourmet cheeses, we never leave the store empty-handed. One of our favorite things at Duck Soup is to peruse the unique spirits, wines, and cordials. Is there a liquor pairing you might recommend with the Sky Bar? 

LM: Interesting question. We sell coffee beans and make a mix called “Sky Bar Blend.” It is reminiscent of the sky bar, and I recommend drinking a cup of it with this childhood candy favorite. Whiskey would also work well, as it would be robust enough to complement the bar without the many flavors of the sky bar overwhelming it. Laird’s Applejack comes from one of America’s oldest distilleries and would be a fine choice.

2. Some say the Sky Bar comes from heaven with four delectable and different centers. So what made you want to save this treasured candy bar from returning to its eternal maker?

LM: A Duck Soup customer was a huge Sky Bar fan and had us bring them into Duck Soup a few years ago. They are so popular I couldn’t believe no existing candy company bought the rights at the NECCO bankruptcy auction. I knew there was a market and bid on it, so I was not expecting to win. But here we are!

3. We understand that candy traditions are important to you. What are your Halloween candy traditions? 

LM: At Duck Soup, we always have candy that is very high quality, and in fact, we have a wall of candy jars that the local kiddos like to pick and choose from very carefully, making sure they have enough money for their choices. It’s very “sweet” (pun intended!) Halloween is one of the candy-based celebrations we love, and we make sure we have a great selection of Halloween candies that you won’t find in a drugstore or supermarket. 

4. Duck Soup is a small business that supports other small businesses through the products sold in the store, such as Goodnow Farm Chocolates or Pate made by Trois Petits Cochons company in New York; this mission gives us such a warm and cozy feeling. So how do you find all the cool things you put on the shelves? 

LM: A lot of the ideas come from our customers themselves. Because we have only one location and don’t have a corporate headquarters to answer to, we can pretty much stock anything we want. In fact, we often get asked where the name “Duck Soup” came from. It was suggested by the father-in-law of the founder because “you can put anything into duck soup.” He was a chef, so that sounded

 good to me!

5. As a confectionary aficionado, is there any other type of candy or chocolate you would rush to save? 

LM: We currently have our hands full getting Sky Bar production up to capacity, so sadly, we are not in a position to save anything else. However, we would love for you to come and see the Sky Bar being saved! You can watch the chocolate being made through our viewing windows in the retail store, Monday through Thursday at around 3.30. It is the only Necco product still made in Massachusetts, which is a shame, but something we are proud to make happen.

Thank you to Louise for taking time out of her busy schedule. 

• Learn more about Duck Soup cooking classes HERE.
• Check out Duck Soup’s online shop HERE.
• Order a gift basket HERE (They make great corporate and holiday gifts!)
• Hit up the Sky Bar shop HERE.

This article originally appeared in The Mazer Group’s Luxury Listings Newsletter. For more stories like this and great real estate eye candy, subscribe to mazergroup@compass.com

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