Confectionery store

Shop selling sweet foods From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A confectionery store or a confectionery shop is a retail business that sells confectionery, including candy, sweets, or chocolates. These stores can be found by the types of sugar confections operating in many countries—sweet shops in the United Kingdom^[1] and India, candy shops or candy stores in North America, or lolly shops^[2] in Australia and New Zealand.^[3]^[4] Confectionery stores often sell locally-made sweets,^[5] international delicacies, or "vintage" varieties such as rock candy or liquorice.^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]^{[improper synthesis?]} Dedicated confectionery stores are popular in many countries because of their low start-up costs, high markup potential and diverse appeal.^[10]^[11]

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History

For much of human history, only the wealthy consumed sugar, with most sweets being produced at home.^[12]

Stores and stalls have sold confections for over a thousand years. Sugar and sweets were readily available in Chinese cities during the Song Dynasty (960–1279).^[13] Shops in Kaifeng at the time sold children's treats like candied fruits, "shrimp whiskers", and thick sweets.^[14]^[15] In Hangzhou, vendors sold sugar and honey cakes, shaped candies, spun sugar, sweet pastes, and syrup.^[13] In Japan, the confectionery maker Ichimonjiya Wasuke opened around 1000 CE, selling sweets, and continues to operate today. Over the following centuries, confections were sold in markets and stores in places including in Isfahan, Safavid Iran, purchased to be eaten with coffee.^[16] Across their history, confectionery stores have existed both as retailers and as candy makers (where confections are made on-site, sometimes in view of customers).^[17]

Starting in the 16th century, European meals often ended with sweet dishes, giving rise to several occupations dedicated to sweets, including gingerbread makers, sugar bakers and pie bakers. Apothecaries participated in this by processing herbs and fruits into sweets, like candy preserves. The development of modern confectionery stores stemmed from the convergence of these trades; by 1800 they had unified into what we describe as the modern confectioner.^[18]

These changes of the 17th and 18th centuries were accompanied by shifts in attitudes towards sweets: from being viewed as primarily medicinal, to being understood as a luxurious treat.^[19] In Spain, elite women prepared confections within the household, while nuns produced sweets for religious feast days. Confections would become an important component to Barcelona's trade, which gave rise to specialised confectioners, with heavy involvement of women.^[19] As colonial production of sugar increased, the price of sugar declined during the 18th century, and confections became cheaper and accessible to the middle-class of the US and Europe.^[20] La Mère de Famille, opening in Paris in 1761, may have been Europe's first dedicated confectionery shop.^[17]

In the 19th century, a rise specialised machinery, such as the revolving steam pan and lozenge machines, enabled confections to be mass-produced and accessible to lower-class consumers. Businesses crafted and sold such equipment to confectioners. By the late 1800s, sugar prices had dropped, further increasing the ease of production. Legislation such as the United States Food and Drug Act of 1906 forced stricter regulation, allowing confectionery stores to build consumer trust and brand recognition.^[21]^[12] Stores began to offer bulk confectionery, typically individually-wrapped and offered in large self-serve containers, known in the United States as "penny candy".^[22]^[23]

In 1917, there were 55 confectionery shops in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for a population of 70,000.^[24]

Starting in the 1950s, American confectionery stores adopted highly colourful interiors in the "Googie" style, which featured geometric shapes, bright neon colours, and high-contrast colour palettes.^[22] Bright colours were used to attract people into the shop.^[25]

In Sweden, per-capita candy consumption rose from about 10 to 15 kilograms (22 to 33 lb) per year after self-service pick-and-mix candy was introduced in the 1980s.^[26]

Large confectionery stores opened in the 21st century, including Candylicious in the Dubai Mall (2009) at 10,000 square feet (930 m²).^[27] Opened in 2011, the M&M's World shop in London is the largest confectionery shop in the world at around 35,000 square feet (3,300 m²).^[28] The highest sales of chocolate in the world are at Brussels Airport. Travelers there purchase an average of about 500 grams (18 oz) of chocolate every 15 seconds, or 650 tons a year.^[29]

Operations

Local differences

Confectionery stores often stock regional confections like Mexican cochinito de piloncillo, British Blackpool rock,^[30] or Southeast Asian dodol,^[31] or regional variations of confections like fudge, gumdrops, or hard candies.^{[citation needed]} Some stores (chocolateries) sell only varieties of chocolate and similar products.^[32] Others focus on novelty candies (like promotional snacks or unusual flavours^[33]), flavoured popcorn, or toffees.^[34]^[35]

Customers

Stores may target specific consumer demographics, like teenagers, wealthy consumers, or tourists.^[36] They may have specialities like allergy-free selections or vegan products.^[37]

Tourism

Some current and former stores have become tourist attractions, such as Hersheypark,^[38] M&M's World,^[39] Minnesota's Largest Candy Store,^[40]^[41] and Ghirardelli Square.^[42] Other locations include Schimpff's Confectionery and Shane Confectionery.

By country

Australia

Confectionery production in Australia began in the mid-19th century, starting with James Stedman founding Stedman-Henderson Sweets in 1840, and William Overton, who founded Melbourne's first confectioner's shop in 1838.^[43]^[44] In the 1850s, Melbourne had three quantity manufacturers and wholesalers of confectionery: James & Robert Black, Dillon & Barfoot, and T.H. Nott, whilst many others appeared over the course of the century.^[43]

China

In China, wedding candy (Chinese: 喜糖; pinyin: xǐtáng; lit. 'happy candy') is frequently given as a symbol of the "sweetness" of the occasion.^[45] In the 1990s, Zigu Road had over twenty wedding candy shops at the time, which included White Rabbit Creamy Candies. This swept through Shanghai because of its soft, chewy, and sweet taste. As a result, Chinese Confectioneries still display the signature name "Shanghai Candies" to this day due to its influence in Shanghai. Southern regions such as Jiangsu, Zhejian, Fujian, and Anhui accounted for nearly 80% of the national wedding confectionery store share according to food-industry commentator Zhu Danpeng.^[46] ^[47] People in Nanchang often prepared packages for wedding candy. It was a thriving, newborn market that business owners competed in, to the point where their business strategy consisted of shops were cramped with candy, displaying sweets outside doors and into the streets for consumer consumption.^[47] However, wedding confectionery stores have declined from their peak in the 1990s.^[48]

Changes in consumer habits caused by the COVID-19 pandemic challenged the sweets market. Marriages in China decreased during the pandemic, with 17.5% fewer marriages in Q1-Q3 of 2021 compared to the same period in 2019, lowering demand for wedding confections. Additionally, growing consumer health awareness has driven an increase in the market share of fruit and nut-based snack foods over chocolates and candies. As of 2022, the wedding candy market in wealthier and developed cities skews towards higher end products, such as imported chocolate and biscuits.^[49]

France

France's first confiserie or sweet shop, À la Mère de Famille, founded by Pierre-Jean Bernard, was opened in 1761. Candy had been consumed there since the Middle Ages, when a man named Regnaut-Barbon founded a guild of confectioners, but it was only eaten by the aristocracy and royalty and used in religious ceremonies. It was not until the mid-20th century that its sweets started being eaten by common people.^[50]

Germany

In Germany, the traditional confectionery shop and café is known as a Konditorei. Unlike a standard retail sweet shop or a bread bakery (Bäckerei), a Konditorei specialises in fine baked goods, elaborate tortes, pastries, and artisanal chocolates, frequently operating alongside an integrated sit-down café.^[51]

The trade's roots stretch deep into the medieval European guild system. In Nuremberg, a prominent trading nexus, were established some of Germany's earliest specialised corporate guilds for fine pastry and spice bakers—such as historic Lebküchner (gingerbread and confection) guilds documented as early as the 17th century.^[52]^[53] Over subsequent centuries, these traditions expanded through court confectioners (Hofkonditoren) and the opening of early German coffee houses. By the 19th century, the Konditorei matured into a widespread public institution closely tied to the German tradition of Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cake)—an afternoon social ritual centred around unhurried slices of layered cream cakes, fruit tarts, and regional specialities like Baumkuchen or Nürnberger Lebkuchen.^[54] Over time, their offerings expanded to include confectionery such as liquorice, candy canes, and gummy candies, leading to the alternative designation "sugar bakery" (Zuckerbäckerei).^[55] Master confectioners (Konditormeister) undergo rigorous, regulated vocational training, maintaining a distinction between scratch-made artisanal confections and mass-produced commercial snacks.^[56]

India

Confectionery stores are called mithai (or halwai) ki dukan (मिठाई की दुकान; lit. 'sweet shop') in Hindi, and similarly in other dialects and languages. Various cities are known for their mithai shops, such as Kolkata and Agra. Alongside typical sweets, such as barfi, peda or laddu, many places have local or regional specialities, like petha in Agra. Sweet shops are used to gather temple offerings, especially during festivals such as Diwali.^[57]

Japan

In the Edo period, confectionary stores bore the symbol of paulownia and swirling patterns, and often had an image of Kawaguchiya, one of the two main candy brands in the An'ei era. Small-scale shops had umbrellas to protect candies from melting or getting wet. To increase sales, some vendors wore women's clothing or displayed karakuri puppets. A vendor sang with a shamisen and was rewarded with clothing bearing the Onoe Kikugorō V family's crest.^[58]

In a 1777 listing, there were 28 confectionary stores in Edo (now Tokyo). Several of them called themselves "kudarikyogashiya" to benefit from an association with "kudarimono", prized goods from the region of Kamigata. Kyoto meibutsu mizu no fukiyose had confectionery reviews, judging their specialities, product colour, degree of steaming for steamed confectionery, and even the confectionery's container.^[59]

Cafés began to appear in the Meiji era, serving Western sweets and coffee, and further developed in the Taisho era.^[60]

Prior to the 1980s, the Japanese custom for purchasing candy took place at a dagashiya (駄菓子屋), also known as a "trivial sweets shop". When konbini stores began to take root in the late 1980s, the smaller, less-stocked dagashiya market began to face steady competition.^[61]

Despite this competition, a number of dagashiya chains managed to survive. One notable example is Okashi no Machioka, known for selling both Western items, potato chips and chocolate bars, besides traditional snacks such as yōkan (羊羹) and umaibō (うまい棒). Some dagashiya stores have been in the same location for centuries. One example is Kami-kawaguchiya, which was established in Zōshigaya and, as of 2026, remained open after over 200 years.^[61]

Notable candies sold at Japanese confectioneries include plum-flavoured snacks, jellies, jams, mints, nuts, and crackers. Senbei (煎餅) can also be regularly spotted in shops like these. Seafood is also a very common offering in these shops; iwashi (dried sardines) and ika (dried squid) are very popular snacks.^[61]

Malaysia

King's Confectionery is the country's largest confectionery chain, with 90 stores in Malaysia and Bangladesh. It began as a single store before being incorporated in 1993.^[62]

Switzerland

Switzerland is home to many confectionery chains, and luxury chocolate has become stereotypically associated with the country.^[63] These stores are owned by manufacturers such as Lindt^[64] and Confiserie Sprüngli.^[65] The origin of Swiss chocolate can be traced back to the colonization of South America by Spain, which introduced chocolate to Europe.^[63]^[66] Beginning in the eighteenth century, cafes became a fashionable places to purchase and consume chocolate and confectionary.^[67] Several of these chocolate makers set up shop during the first half of the 19th century. Among other reasons their confectionery stores serve to launch and test new products. Related confectionery stores began gaining traction in the 19th century with the invention of milk chocolate and dark chocolate (through the process of conching) by Daniel Peter in 1875^[66] and Rodolphe Lindt in 1879 respectively.^[63]^[68] An iconic^{[citation needed]} Swiss confectionery store is the Confiserie Sprüngli branch in Zurich, famed not only for its chocolate, but for other confectionery as well such as the Luxemburgerli, a type of macarons, bisous, and other pastries.^[69]^{[independent source needed]}

Turkey

The Hacı Bekir shop in Istanbul, which opened in 1777, claims to have created the modern Turkish delight. The shop is one of the 100 oldest companies in the world.^[70]^[71]

United Kingdom

Confectionery stores are known as sweet shops in the United Kingdom and originated during the 19th century. British sweet shops from this period featured lavish architecture and catered to wealthy clientele.^[72] The "Oldest Sweet Shop" in Pateley Bridge, Yorkshire, opened in 1827 and claims to be the longest continuously open seller of aniseed balls, liquorice and sherbet flying saucers in the world, as well as the oldest sweet shop in England generally.^[73] The oldest continuously operating sweet shop in Scotland is the Star Rock Shop, which opened in Kirriemuir in 1833.^[74] The repeal of the Sugar Act in 1867 led to an increase in the number of sweet shops in the UK.^[75]^{[better source needed]}

Woolworths dominated confectionery retailing in the UK, starting in 1909 by selling a variety of loose sweets by weight, which were known as Pic'n'Mix. They were initially sourced from New York, but UK factories such as Barker and Dobson and Cadbury's soon became main suppliers.^[76]

In the modern UK, some confectionery stores, especially those that import American candies, have been fronts for crimes such as money laundering, tax fraud, illegal work, and sale of counterfeit goods.^[77]^[78]

United States

In the United States, prior to the mid-19th century, sweets consisted of fruits or nuts flavoured with spices or sweeteners, typically sold by grocers or specialised confectioners. The Industrial Revolution in the mid-19th century allowed for sugar-based candies to be mass-produced in factories. This caused sweet treats, previously reserved for the rich, to become affordable to more people. Also, during this time, chocolate, which had previously generally been consumed unsweetened in the United States, became popular as a candy.^[79]

"Ye Olde Pepper Candy Companie" in Salem, Massachusetts, is the oldest candy shop in the United States,^[80] founded in 1806 by Mary Spencer.^[81]^[82]

Philadelphia was home to the Caribbean sugar trade in the late 18th century. Thousands of French-speaking refugees moved there beginning in 1790, fleeing revolutions in France and Haiti, establishing confectioneries. In 1816, there were over 20 confectioners in Philadelphia, which rose to about 200 in 1857. About half specialised in what is now candy, and the other half in different treats, including pastries, ice cream, and jellies.^[79]

Philadelphia's candy industry faced a series of acquisitions and closures in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. However, small-scale family shops remained, including the oldest continuously operating confectionery shop in the United States, Shane Confectionery.^[83]

Charles Donofrio opened a confectionery store in Arizona in 1887. It expanded in 1891 due to good candy and ice cream sales.^[84] During the year, his brother, Dominick Donofrio, boarded a train and saw a desert full of cacti. He realised there was a business opportunity in candy made of cactus when he went back to work at the store. In 1905, he bought the store from his father^[84] and created a cube-shaped candy with a gelantinous core and a sugary crust, named Crystalized Cactus Candy. Ads targeted Christmas shoppers and the shop's mail orders increased drastically.^[79]

In 1921, George Carameros opened a similar store in El Paso, also selling cactus candy, after getting the recipe from a merchant for five dollars at the time. A 300-pound (140 kg) visnaga in the downtown was exhibited to promote his shop. He expanded the cactus candy lineup to include cactus preserves and ice cream, and made several variations, including fruit-flavoured and chocolate-coated candy. It was also a success, being offered on intercontinental trains and international ships. Other small cactus candy shops were established across California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, attempting to emulate the success of the venture.

In 2024, there were over 23,000 stores across the United States, with Vermont specifically being called "The Candy Capital" with 12.2 confectionery stores per 100,000 residents.^[85]

In New York City, despite economic difficulties, candy shops were expanding in June 2026 due to the lipstick effect, where, in an economic crisis, people are more willing to buy less costly luxury goods.^[86]