Surf Expo Section

the wharf store its largest at 2,800 square feet; the boardwalk store just slightly smaller; and a “quaint 800-foot shop” on the west side of town with the chain’s warehouse and production facility located behind it. “That’s where we make everything,” Marini explained.

Store location is a big deal for the family-run business. “Being in a seaside, tourist-driven economy, having spots on the boardwalk and on the wharf helps us get foot traffic. They look at the waves, ride the rides, and get some candy. People who are landlocked much of the year, they get to see what we do on a daily basis just by coming here. We’re very fortunate to be in an area like this with high foot traffic. It’s hard not to love being here.”

The stores’ location also affects sales overall, as well as the merchandise carried. “People are on vacation and just happy to be here, so they come in for treats. Additional items, packaged things, change store to store, but each of our three shops sell our core prod- ucts.” Seasonal items also change periodically. “We have a bunch of Halloween items in here now, then we will have Thanksgiving and Christmas candies. We really go all out for Christmas and incorporate a lot of seasonal items with our core products. We make sure we have something for everyone shopping for holiday

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Where Sweets Sales (From page 49) gifts.”

The store is open all year at the wharf, except for Thanksgiving and Christmas. “We are more seasonal on the boardwalk,” Marini said. “There we are open every day in the summer, and primarily on weekends the rest of the year. The westside shop is also mostly open on weekends off-season.”

In Lincoln City, Ore., Shelby Wright , manager of Candyland, related that the store’s top sellers also in-

Tips for Hiring Great Staff

At boardwalk and beachclose candy stores, hiring great staff is part of providing the tastiest customer experiences. What staffing tips work best at these locations? For this article, store staff and owners offered their top advice on hiring friendly, knowledgeable staff.

At Marini’s Candy in Santa Cruz, Calif., Co-Owner Gino Marini explained, “We just try our best with our interview process. Right now, we’ve had a hard time finding people in general, but we usually hire mostly first-time workers, as this is a good spot for a few years or a few summers, and then they can step into something else. Mostly we try to rigorously interview people and make sure they understand the values of customer service and customer experience.” He added, “That goes a long way for us. We want people to work here who are knowledgeable on our products, smiling, and greet people. My brother and I try hard to make it a fun environment for everyone. We do contests and giveaways to encourage people to stick around more, but usually our hires are only here for a temporary period, so we do go through a lot clude saltwater taffy. “Along with the taffy, it’s chocolates and homemade caramel corn. We make the caramel corn every morning, it’s vegan, made with coconut milk-based butter in an old school copper kettle.” Additionally, the beach-close shop carries novelty candies like Abba Zaba and candy cigarettes, as well as trendy TikTok-popularized items. “We have candy for all ages, it’s all fun.” The shop’s unique location makes summer the busiest season for the shop, she explained. “People are here vacationing, and that’s a lot of our business, of employees. The goal is always wanting to provide excellent customer service and customer experience to match our good products, so that customers go out and tell their friends and want to come back again.”

At the Candy Kitchen, located on the Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk in Rehobeth Beach, Del., Key Holder Lucy Sirenanides said, “I can’t speak for how we find people in the production and factory area, but here in the store, usually we hire students. They come to us usually by word of mouth, from area colleges or high schools. We also post open positions in the windows, and in newspaper advertisements.” Most often, extra staff is needed during the peak vacation season.

Vincent Brooking, owner of Carousel Toffee in Capitola, Calif., explained that he hasn’t hired any staff since he purchased the store just prior to the pandemic. “The previous owners kept things very simple, just putting up a ‘help wanted’ sign. Along with being by the beach, we’re also near a high school, and that did the trick for seasonal hires in the busy summer season.”

In Lincoln City, Ore., Shelby Wright, manager of Candyland, related that the store primarily relies on word of mouth hiring. “We don’t do a ‘help wanted’ sign. We usually hire people we know personally, or friends. Right now, we have my father, myself, my aunt, and a longtime friend working with us, as well as two high school girls who were new this year, that we’d known of through others. It’s all personal connections with us. We’re a family-run store, my parents own it, and I’ve been working here since I was [12.]” ❖ but we also have locals come to the boardwalk and beach and being right here in the center of it is really the perfect location for everyone.” The shop is open seven days a week, other than closing on Christmas and Thanksgiving. “A lot of local businesses close for the winter or take a month off, but we are here seven days a week all year.”

Wright related that the store carries the same main items every month. “We do get new outside inventory throughout the year, so that people will have different items to look at when it comes to packaged candies. We don’t do a lot of holiday specials though. Our signature items are the most popular, and we always carry them.”

She noted that “Our pricing on taffy and chocolate is the lowest on the coast. We’ll often get people returning because of our reasonable prices.” The shop has had its location for over 45 years. “It’s fun to get customers who come in and say they’ve brought their kids or grandkids in to enjoy our fun environment, after visiting themselves when they were younger.”

And that’s the long and short – and sweet of it. Traditional beach favorites such as saltwater taffy and caramel corn are among the top sellers at stores where the sound of the waves blends with the taste of generationally favorite sweets. ❖