But at one little business on The Alameda, nearly a century's worth of tradition is alive and well. At Schurra's, success isn't about high profit margins or IPOs or getting rich quick. It's not about streamlining production or becoming a mega-corporation.

It's about making good candy.

Behind the 750-square-foot, European-style retail shop, with its spotless glass display cases, shiny jars of chocolate lollipops and bowls of peanut brittle, the Mundy family and a handful of longtime employees are carrying on a 91-year tradition of creating small batches of hand-decorated candy. They use machinery that dates back to the middle of the last century, honoring a legacy, and all in the relative anonymity that comes from being a mom and pop shop.

"We're kind of San Jose's unknown tradition," says Brian Mundy, who has helped to run Schurra's with his parents, Bill and Marifran, for the past 20 years. "A lot of people don't know about us. And a lot of people who came here as kids don't realize we're still here."

But for those in the know, Schurra's is something of a neighborhood treasure, a reminder of times past. Bill Howard, who still lives in the Garden Alameda house where he grew up, says one of his fondest childhood memories is of walking with his mother and brother down to the shop when it was located next door to its current location. At the time, the factory had a window looking in from the street, and passersby could press their noses to the glass and watch each step of the candy-making process in the "Sunshine Kitchen."

"Watching the candy being made made it seem extra delicious," Howard says, recalling the "old ladies" in hairnets with melted chocolate up to their elbows, molding the Easter bunnies that Schurra's still makes today.

Staying true to the memories of longtime customers like Howard is one of the top priorities at Schurra's, says Brian Mundy. That's why, in addition to its specialties of truffles, boxed chocolates and "novelty molds," the family still makes the peppermint chews that have graced the shelves since Albert Schurra opened shop in 1912. It's why they still buy Blommers chocolate like longtime owners Hank and Gayle Viehweger did back in the 1960s. The Mundys, who have lived in their Willow Glen home for more than three decades and are blessed with a short commute, are hoping to put a window on the factory store's kitchen so that the children of today can watch with the same wonder that Howard did 40 years ago.

As the story goes, Albert Schurra—pronounced "Shoe-ray"—emigrated from France and opened up his first candy factory in Stockton in 1912, eventually operating five shops throughout the Sacramento area and shipping candy to customers all over the West Coast.

But when the Depression hit, Schurra decided to downsize to one location, purchasing the shop at the corner of The Alameda and Sunol in 1937. After his retirement, a new owner briefly took possession of the shop in the mid-1940s before selling the business to Hank and Gayle Viehweger, a husband-and-wife team that would go on to run the factory for nearly 40 years. Gayle Viehweger's family had owned the Chatterton Bakery in San Jose, so she knew something of the "sweets" business; Hank learned candy-making directly from Schurra himself.

Hank would pass on Schurra's secrets when Bill Mundy, a former grocery-store owner, took over 20 years ago. Mundy, who'd gone into retirement, was intrigued by the possibility of owning the candy factory, which he remembered fondly from his childhood growing up in the Burbank neighborhood and attending nearby Lincoln High School. He would spend a year with Hank Viehweger learning the Schurra candy-making techniques. His wife, Marifran, kept the books, and son Brian helped out at the factory through high school and beyond, before being lured away to the high-tech field, where he worked as a recruiter for six years.

By the time the Silicon Valley economy started to crash, Brian Mundy was already leaning toward getting back into the family business—the burst of the dot-com bubble just "accelerated" his plans, says the Willow Glen native.

"It's just in my blood," he says. "Candy-making comes naturally to me."

Now in his mid-30s, Brian Mundy lives with his wife just a short drive away in the Shasta/Hanchett Park neighborhood. These days, as co-owner, he is helping to spearhead what business development manager Winston Sherard calls an "evolution" at Schurra's. Plans are in the works to expand the retail portion of the shop, to introduce a year-round mini ice cream parlor, build an e-commerce site, and relaunch tours for children's groups once the factory floor is refinished.

The company also hopes to expand its reach among local gourmet outlets; Schurra's already has shelf space at Zanotto's, Gene's Fine Foods and Draeger's Markets and sells to several upscale downtown hotels like the Fairmont and the Marriott. The factory has developed an exclusive line of chocolate called "European Reserve," in part as a response to the public's increasingly discriminating taste for chocolate, and has partnered with local arts groups like Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley to distribute fine chocolates at cultural events.

But while they've quadrupled the level of business at Schurra's in the past 20 years, and though changes are in store for the tiny candy factory, the Mundys remain emphatic about honoring the tradition that lives in the hearts of many longtime neighborhood residents.

"Every day someone will come in and say, 'My grandfather used to take me here when I was a kid,' " says Brian Mundy. "It's a neat thing. If I were to go out and start my own business there wouldn't be that story behind it. You just can't buy 91 years of tradition."

Schurra's Candies is located at 840 The Alameda. For more information, call 408.289.1562.