Like a Kid in a Candy Shop
Written by Kristie Paton
New-age candy bodegas are giving us the chance to revisit our childhood favourites, and experience a new world of flavour
Remember Dunkaroos? The sugary-sweet frosting and cookie combo snack packaged in the blue plastic tray with the tearable foil top? How about Airheads? Remember the chewy, taffy-like candy that came in an array of flavours ranging from cherry to “White Mystery”? Up until the last three years or so, you’d be hard-pressed to find these nostalgically 90’s treats on any local grocery shelf. These days, most nearly-forgotten confection favourites can be found alongside foreign goodies from all over the world at your local specialty snack shop, the so-called candy bodega.
Opening in urban and suburban neighbourhoods across the country, candy bodegas have been popping up since the early pandemic days. Sure, the tourist-trap vintage treat and rock-candy retailers have been around and moderately successful for decades now, but this is an entirely new concept, serving the modern era. Positioned for the market somewhere between the gas station/convenience store and seedy vape shops, candy bodegas are now familiar sights in strip malls and downtowns from Metro Vancouver to the very depths of the Fraser Valley.
Flavour Exploration
Stocking everything from limited-edition designer cereal boxes to shareable Skittles in unimaginable flavours, this new-style of candy store gave us the chance to explore at a time when traditional travel and vacationing were strictly off-limits. At the time when we were learning to bake sourdough and banging pots for healthcare workers, newly- opened candy bodegas allowed our palettes an escape to the far flung flavour regions like Mexico, Korea, and Australia. Cricket filled lollipops, Red Velvet Oreo Thins, and sour Head Bangers Cola Balls helped make us feel as though we had been transported somewhere new and exciting. Since then, the way that we shop and consume for products like candy has significantly changed. Now, on average we’re staying home more, and in looking for new ways to pass the time, the demand for rare and novelty treats is higher than ever.
I recently visited three new candy bodegas in Abbotsford—all within four kilometres of my apartment. While they each had their own interesting perspectives and experiences, their stories were all too similar, and it all started with Dank Mart.
“At the time when we were learning to bake sourdough and banging pots for healthcare workers, newly-opened candy bodegas allowed our palettes an escape to the far flung flavour regions like Mexico, Korea, and Australia.”
How it Started
Dank Mart opened on Main Street less than a month into the pandemic, and was brought into existence to compliment the newly reopened neighbouring cannabis store; THC. Ironically, Dank Mart’s retail space was leased as a condition to nail down the municipal license needed to run the weed shop. In short, our candy bodegas wouldn’t exist without these new legalized cannabis shops and their razor-thin profit margins. Originally positioned as a “one- stop-shop for cannabis lovers”, the completely separate entities instantly found success with Dank Mart, which unintentionally captures a much larger audience.
My partner and I made the 40 minute drive to check out Dank Mart a few months after it had opened, after reading into the hype about the new shop on whatever Daily Hive or Narcity article popped up in my local newsfeed that week. Walking in we were instantly transported to a snack lovers heaven.
Alongside rolling papers and pipes, shelves held every version imaginable of our favourite candy bars and limitless choices of sugary cereal, and anything and everything between. Gleaming coolers packed full of soda with foreign names from places like South America and Asia, and chocolate and chips we fondly recognized from our travels to England and China, there was so much more than we had expected to find in the tiny shop that day. We stocked up some old favourites like Nerd Ropes, but most of our haul contained products we’d never tried before. We stuffed our kitchen treat drawer full of bright packages with names like Ghost Pepper Blue Raspberry Balls, HI-Chew Fantasy, Warhead Extreme Sour Pickle-in-a-Pouch, and Matcha Kit Kats.
What started off as a secondary business to support a stoner lifestyle has influenced a growing community of more family-friendly suburban shops. The three places I visited in Abbotsford had all opened in 2021 or later. One of the business owners admitted that they made the decision to open their own candy bodega shortly after visiting Dank Mart’s original location in late 2020.
Snacks for All
Anticipating something new and fun for the community, we saw D’Snack Shack open up in June 2021, in the middle of a heatwave—where they lost most of their recently imported British Cadbury chocolate. Strategically situated in a well-established strip mall that sits along what turns into highway 11, this brightly-lit candy bodega grabs the attention of daily commuters and hockey moms on the primary route connecting Mission to Chilliwack. Surprisingly, kids are what’s keeping D’Snack Shack’s door’s open. Parents are stopping by for an after-school treat, sustenance between practice and dinner, or a birthday gift for an upcoming random classmate’s party. Gym rats pop in for the new vibrantly packaged Prime Energy Drinks. Nine to fivers swing by to grab their weekly rations of Andy Capp’s Hot Fries—It’s the only place they can find it.
Just as D’Snack Shack settled into the market, Mr. Munchies opened in October 2021—perfectly timed to capture the holiday retail season. Located in Abbotsford’s historic downtown, Mr. Munchie’s staff spend more time filling online orders than they do ringing in products for in-store shoppers. Along with online ordering direct on the Mr. Munchies website, customers can also order delivery or pickup through DoorDash—which they do, often purchasing one product at a time. With sodas ranging from $2.50-$11, adding a $4.99 delivery, and a 10% service fee on top makes for a, well, more valuable experience?
Along with a buzzing online presence, Mr. Munchie’s prime time runs daily about 3:00pm-7:00pm, when the store becomes a popular hang out for teens killing time after school, checking out the newest Japanese imported products and other rare finds. Right now Nerd Clusters are the hottest item; they can’t keep them on the shelves. In fact, most of the shelves are looking emptier than usual; a result of the post Christmas rush—which has been quickly recognized as the shop’s busiest time of the year. Branded merch from well-known international names like Nintendo, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Pokémon make great stocking stuffers, just like niche Korean Oreo varieties serve as an affordably unique gift for those hard-to-shop for friends, family, and coworkers.
East Coast Connections
Most recently opened in April 2022, SnaxStop is almost hidden from the street, tucked neatly behind a gas station in the Clearbrook part of town. Serving a little bit of everything to all types, this tiny storefront also conducts most of its business online, through SkipTheDishes and Uber Eats. With a noticeably smaller confection selection than their competitors, SnaxStop seems to serve a market closer to Dank Mart’s intended audience, offering coloured rolling papers and ashtrays alongside $40 boxes of limited edition Supreme Wheaties cereal. SnaxStop has since opened up a second location in Guelph, Ontario last June, perhaps following in Dank Mart’s more urban footprints; they expanded into the Toronto market last year too.
Whether you’re on the hunt for a re-launched Haribo Limited Edition pack, a Mountain Dew Baja Blast, Crunchy Strawberry Pocky, or a walk down memory lane, chances are you’ll be able to find whatever you’re looking for (and so much more) in some corner of your suburban community. It’s never been easier to discover new and exciting treats from around the world.
