It’s best to make sure one doesn’t wander into Three Georges while hungry. Even after a good lunch it’s a little overwhelming.

Even more so in the weeks leading up to Christmas. At any given time, the shop at 226 Dauphin St. abounds with temptations: Everything from oversize lollipops and gummy worms to locally produced chocolate treats to a muffuletta or a malted at the counter.

But this time of year? The counter is piled high with gift tins, fruitcakes, cakes and more. Come in here hungry and you’re liable to walk out with an armful of gifts you didn’t know you needed. You might think you have willpower, but let’s see what happens when you come face to face with a white chocolate butter pecan cake.

I stick to the essentials: Half a pound of chocolate turtles, a small box of cheese straws.

They’re two very different things. But they’re both deceptively simple, straightforward treats with a lot of history behind them, much like the shop itself. Three Georges was founded by the members of Mobile’s Greek community: George Pope, George Spero and George Pappolamporous, who later changed his surname to Pappas.

Scott Gonzalez, the contemporary owner, said that as legend has it, one of them wanted to open a soda fountain, one wanted to sell sweets and one wanted to run a sandwich shop. Together they had the capital to launch a store where they could do all three.

Gonzalez came into the story three-quarters of a century later, when he bought what was then George’s Candy Shop, building and all, from Euple Pappas, widow of George Pappas Jr. Funny thing about the name: Gonzales said that when he dug into it, he found that Pappas Sr. had bought out his partners and changed it from “Three Georges” to “George’s” in the 1930s, around 60 years earlier.

“But when I took over, I would say half the people coming into the store were calling it Three Georges,” he said. “The name just stuck.” He surrendered to the inevitable and made it officially Three Georges again.

Gonzalez has written elsewhere about his apprenticeship learning the fine art of confectionery, such as making his first batch of divinity. But he didn’t just learn how to stock the shelves of the business he’d just bought: Within a decade he bought another Mobile institution, the H.M. Thames Pecan Co. and its “The Nuthouse” brand. That expanded both his staff and his manufacturing capacity, since it included a 40,000-square-foot plant on Broad Street.

Chocolate turtles had been a mainstay of Three Georges. There’s nothing secret about the concept. It’s right there on 3georges.com: “We cover caramel and big pecan pieces with our rich milk chocolate to create our special Southern pecan turtles.” Or you can get them with cashews, as I did. Chocolates out of the case are $35 a pound, and half a pound translates to about five or six turtles. They should come with a warning label that says, “don’t open this bag when you’re alone.”

The cheese straws were a Nuthouse specialty, a crisp and savory treat with a touch of pepper that keeps you coming back. As with the turtles, it’s hard to stop. It’s a go-to snack at parties, and veterans know not to open them before the guests arrive.

Even during a brief visit to the shop it’s easy to see traffic is heavy. It’s a big season for candy. And Gonzalez has another reason to be upbeat: A partnership with a huge new Piggly Wiggly that just began a soft opening at the corner of Airport and University boulevards.

“We started doing grocery stores, I guess about five or six years ago,” said Gonzalez. “And we’re in some of the grocery stores with a small display with our main items. But this one is like a mini store. We have a really good display, candy case in there with over 100 items that we’re selling. So we’re really excited about that.”

“I mean, it’s really a great store,” he said. “We expect to do it more out of that store than we do in our downtown store.”

That’s quite a development, for a business that’s more than 100 years old.

If Gonzalez could wish for just a little more, it would be for more people to appreciate the café side of Three Georges. They make a mean muffuletta. On any given day you might find chicken salad or jambalaya on the menu. And he thinks people will be pleasantly surprised if they give his gumbo a try.

Maybe next time. Today it’s cheese straws and turtles. Will any of them make it home? Let’s just say that if they do, it’ll be a Christmas miracle.

Three Georges Fine Southern Chocolates is at 226 Dauphin St. in downtown Mobile. For full information, visit https://3georges.com/.