Carol’s Quality Sweets

By Candice Smiley

As soon as Carol starts talking about her store you can hear her passion through the phone.

“We celebrated 30 years of being in Edmonton this year”, she says and I can hear her smile. “When we started, with six jars of candy on the counter and two cabinets of chocolates,” she pauses for effect. “And now over a thousand different kinds of candy, four hundred jars of product and cabinets of chocolates!”.

I’ve been inside her store on High Street in Edmonton, and I love it! There is such a unique feel and so many candies to choose from. It makes me nostalgic for a time that was simpler than the one that we live in now.

I was intrigued and so I had to ask her how she got started; and surprisingly her story starts in Swan Hills and not Edmonton.

Carol shared that it all started in the little town with a population of about 4000 people, with nothing for the women to do but make crafts. Making crafts required supplies, so she brought in craft supplies and opened a “craft store” on her porch for the women to

buy the needed items for their crafts. This was apparently very successful and a fun little venture.

Around this time a lady came to town who taught the art of chocolate making. Carol, intrigued, said, “why not?” and began learning to make chocolate and started selling those too. Of course, with all of the women making crafts they needed somewhere to sell them.

Carol, being the innovative business woman she is, started the Swan Hills Craft Guild.

It was only in 1990 that Carol found herself part of a large craft event in Edmonton, followed quickly by the Art Market in Calgary that same year.

She is quick to jump in on her own story at this point to remind me that at this time, the economy was experiencing another dip as it is now, and I can hear the resilience and pride of a seasoned entrepreneur in her voice.

Carol found herself opening up the first of the Carol’s Sweets shop on Whyte Ave and the corner of 104th street. This was where the shop remained until tragedy struck by fire in 2003 when they lost everything. “All except half of a burnt cookbook…” she says. “Everything else was gone, and we had to start again.”

It was at this point that Carol’s Sweets moved to their High Street location. Their little shop was touted as the “Perfect Business for High Street”... (And I couldn’t agree more!)

If you have never been, it is well worth the detour to make a stop. A delightful family run business with Carol, her husband and

Our Hidden Gems her family continuing to be the ones who create, craft and perfect the chocolates you can purchase there.

Carol tells me that the only chocolate they make is Belgium chocolate… and to hear her tell the story of how they are made is worth the stop in to see her alone. Her eyes light up as she tells you how and what is in the divine little bites of heaven.

Their Peanut Butter Cups won the CBC Snack Checker Award and I’ve been told they have The Sourest Candy in the world!

As we wrap up our call Carol interjects… “We have lots of things for stocking stuffers”. And I smile, again, as I have through this delightful interview of a Hidden Gem in our city, as I think about the tiny wrapped bits of chocolate that are tucked away for loved ones of mine.

If you need "Sweets" for the sweets in your life (and who doesn't) you really deserve to take a trip to High Street. Get out of the house, get those stocking stuffers, and meet a lady you will not soon forget!!!

Carol’s Quality Sweets 12519 102 Ave, Edmonton, AB (780) 433-8650

Carol Logan of Carol's Quality Sweets