Students with a hankering for candy but limited transportation used to have to choose from the inadequate options available on campus and at nearby convenience stores.
They will no longer face that dilemma, thanks to University Boulevard’s toothsome new offering.
The lime green Campus Candy shop looks like a cross between a chic, if tiny, nightclub and Willy Wonka’s flagship store. Bumping top-40 music complements the club vibe, while two entire walls of clear plastic bins full of every imaginable treat are sure to please even the most discerning candy lover.
Campus Candy offers more than 500 different candies, including loose bulk candy and packaged favorites. The number of Jelly Belly flavors and strange-colored M&M’s — think neons and pastels — is dizzying. The store also has more healthful options, like wasabi peas, trail mix and nuts, for those who want to avoid a sugar coma. Some treats, like decadent peanut brittle, look like they could have come straight from your grandmother’s kitchen, while others, like gummy fried eggs and sharks, appear strange and modern, but prove just as tasty. Bulk candy is $2.89 for a quarter pound, while the price of the packaged candy varies.
Campus Candy also offers frozen yogurt in flavors that rotate daily. Fro-yo is 49 cents an ounce without toppings, or 59 cents an ounce with. In addition to traditional offerings, like sprinkles, you can heap your fro-yo with any of the candy in the store.
Though the shop has only been open since Jan. 11, the buzz has already spread across campus. Even on Martin Luther King Jr. day, the store saw a steady stream of curious customers. Kailey-Alyssa Tucker, a sophomore majoring in creative writing and psychology, liked the store enough to come back a second time — this time to interview for a job.
Tucker called the store “”pretty awesome”” and said her favorite aspect was that “”you can pick what you want and how much you want.””
Vivian Taylor, a public health graduate student, was pleased with her first visit to Campus Candy.
“”I really like it. I love candy, so I think it’s great,”” she said. She cited the variety of options as a plus, and said she thought the incorporation of frozen yogurt was a good touch.
“”I think it’s really nice to have both,”” she said. “”It’s nice to then have all that candy for toppings.””
But will she return? “”Oh yeah,”” Taylor said. “”I’ll be back.””
The Campus Candy in Tucson is one of six stores across the country, all located near college campuses. The business is clearly geared toward students. It makes frequent use of social media: Facebook fans and Twitter followers of the store receive updates about, among other things, that day’s frozen yogurt flavors. The store also offers free frozen yogurt on your birthday if you sign up for its mailing list, and, in addition to standard information like email address and phone number, the personal information you’re asked for includes your Greek Life affiliation. The store’s business model seems built around student life.
The store’s hours aren’t yet set in stone, but it is open during the day and evening, seven days a week. So if you’re craving anything from old-school lemon drops to dark chocolate chunks, head to Campus Candy for your fix.