H. Teller Archibald opened Fannie May at 11 N. LaSalle Street in 1920. Over the next several decades, close to one hundred candy companies would open in Chicago, making the Windy City a major center for candy manufacturing.

Archibald's company expanded quickly and by 1935 Archibald Candy had opened over forty Fannie May retail locations across the Midwest. The company is perhaps most famous for its Pixie candy, introduced in 1946. Other popular options include the Trinidad and Eggnog Cream.

Changes were made within the Archibald Candy Company in the 1990s in an attempt to ensure continued growth and stability. Jordan Company was one of a handful of investors who purchased Archibald Candy in 1991. Jordan Co. purchased the Fanny Farmer brand the following year and moved it to the Archibald Candy plant at 1137 W. Jackson Boulevard, where Fannie May candy had been made since the 1930s. The company also purchased the Sweet Factory and Laura Secord brands.

By the early 2000s, Archibald Candy was deeply in debt from the expansion program it undertook the decade before. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2002 and again in 2004. Shortly after, it sold Fanny Farmer and Fannie May to Alpine Confections, a Utah-based company with production facilities in North Canton, Ohio, and closed over two hundred retail locations. Alpine Confections declined to buy Archibald Candy's West Loop factory, instead moving Fannie May and Fanny Farmer production to a factory in Ohio, though Alpine did reopen forty-seven of the stores closed by Archibald. Archibald closed the Chicago factory, which cost over six hundred people their jobs, and the building was torn down in 2007.

Fannie May was sold again in 2006-- this time to 1-800-Flowers.com, which owns several other food, candy, and gift brands. The sale included the Fannie May, Fanny Farmer, and Harry London candy lines.

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