This Saturday, Oct. 18 is the sweetest day of the year, according to local legend, and Malley's Chocolates enjoys continuing that lore each year on the third Saturday in October, also known as Sweetest Day, with the tradition of selling its chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate covered grapes to celebrate the holiday.

Chocolate covered grapes are a Malley's Sweetest Day tradition."What's new to the retail scene specifically for Sweetest Day are the strawberries and grapes," says Malley’s president Megan Gillum. The popular chocolate-covered treats will be available starting at 12 p.m. this Friday, Oct. 17 at all 18 Malley's locations.

Gillum says demand is always high for the seasonal favorites, and Malley’s is always prepared for Sweetest Day.

"I just asked our production manager this morning, ‘How many pounds of each of these do we buy?’ And it's about 1,500 pounds of grapes and then over a ton of strawberries,” Gillum boasts. “So [we have] more than 2,000 pounds—I just think that's fun to say that we're making over a ton of strawberries."

In addition to the strawberries and grapes, Gillum assures customers that plenty of Malley’s traditional assortments are also available. And this weekend customers will get their first glimpse of Malley's new Advent calendar, which will be available both in stores and online for the upcoming winter holiday season.

Gillum says that whatever your Sweetest Day treat choice is, customers are encouraged to shop early.

"We usually make sure that we stay in stock for Friday and Saturday, but some of the stores will stock out by the end of Saturday,” she warns. “So we always encourage people to come Friday or Saturday morning. We often have [people] lined up outside the store for that noon release.”

Malley's chocolate covered strawberries .A tradition for nearly 100 years

While many people consider Sweetest Day as a commercial holiday, invented by confectioners and greeting card companies to boost sales, Gillum says the story behind Sweetest Day’s actual start was more altruistic—and it began in Cleveland.

"The original origins were to make it the sweetest day of the year," Gillum explains. "Some of Cleveland's candy makers said, ‘I want to share candy with those who don't normally get it and make this the sweetest day of the year.’”

"They enlisted not only themselves,” she continues, “but also got local celebrities to hand out tens of thousands of boxes of candy to those who normally wouldn't get them.”

Sweetest Day’s official launch traces back to October 10, 1921, but Gillum says an earlier attempt in 1916 was thwarted by World War I and subsequent sugar rationing.

Some Malley's favortesGillum says the holiday is often considered a Midwest tradition because Sweetest Day began in Cleveland, but the origins were humble and pure.

“It was really about giving and generosity and making others’ lives sweeter," Gillum explains. "There really is a just a heartwarming story surrounding the holiday, versus it feeling like a second Valentine's Day—which is sometimes what it's referred to as.”

More than a century later, Malley's continues to honor this tradition with its fresh fruit and chocolate. "More than 100 years later, that's what Malley's is still aiming to do, is just to make people's days a little sweeter," Gillum stresses. "We try to be mindful, too, of sharing our sweets with others, I think it's a good, heartwarming story, and we're just carrying on that legacy."

The Sweetest Day treats will be available, only in the stores, while supplies last. The Advent calendars can be purchased both in-store and online.

As Gillum puts it, the goal remains simple: "To make it the sweetest day of the year"