photo by Haley Wisniewski
photo by Haley Wisniewski
Having a big sweet tooth and vacant business space, Pittsburgh native Jon Weston decided to take his love for candy to the next level by investing in his own business, Katie’s Kandy, four years ago.
Today, Weston is working at his fourth and biggest Katie’s Kandy store filled with treats from around the world, nostalgic candies, bulk candy and a soon-to-be opened frozen yogurt section, and it is only two buildings down from Point Park’s library.
“This was the #1 spot that we were looking for since day one… And this is what is so cool about being so close to a school and Downtown: you get the lunch crowd which is the office people, and then [the students] keep me busy at night,” Weston said.
After he was unable to buy Clark candy before it left Pittsburgh many years ago, Jon Weston set out to open a candy store in Homestead, where he owned a building with space previously occupied by a tattoo shop.
Named after his youngest daughter, the first Katie’s Kandy emerged in May of 2010. Since then, three more stores have opened; one in Oakland, one on Fifth Avenue Place downtown and now one on Wood Street.
What is the clear difference between this new Katie’s Kandy and the other stores is its size. With about 2000 square feet of space, this store holds much more than candy.
Piñatas, holiday and birthday cards, Webkinz and Ty beanie babies, chocolates of all kinds, caramels and nuts decorate the room and beginning around Easter until the end of fall, frozen yogurt will also be available. There will be nine frozen yogurt flavors with 50 different toppings, including fresh fruit.
“With this store, I just have the ability to put in whatever I want,” Weston said.
Not only is the variety of products large, but also the prices for the pay-by-pound bulk candy are affordable even for college students at $6.99/lb. with bulk chocolates at $9.99/lb.
Katie’s Kandy has become a popular place in Pittsburgh for those looking for nostalgic candy. An entire section of the store has rows of what Weston describes as candy that kids’ parents ate like Mallo Cups, Razzles, Goo Goo Clusters and Beeman gum.
During the time it has been in business, Katie’s Kandy has widened its range of candy selection especially with its products from outside of the country including Kinder chocolates and biscuits from Germany, Cadbury Flake bars from the UK, and Puntini assorted candies from Italy.
Hundreds of bulk candy bins topped with gummy fruit animals, lollipops, sour chews, and assorted hard candies in numerous shapes and flavors from all around the world make up a rainbow of rare treats that are not available in every store.
“Now a lot of the gummy stuff, you can’t buy anywhere in Pittsburgh other than [from] me,” Weston said reinforcing the distinct characteristic of his candy store.
One of the most popular items, and are what Weston considers his favorite candy in the whole store, are the chocolate hippos from Belgium. Though higher in price, he stands behind the importance of quality in what he sells.
“I go to candy shows,” Weston said. “I go to the one in Chicago and eat candy for three days. And then I’ll go to the one in San Francisco in January and eat candy there. So… it has to be really good or I don’t like it.”
With Katie’s Kandy success thus far, Weston has no plans to stop with this Downtown store and is already looking into a location on Penn Avenue in the Strip District.
Though he is swiftly accomplishing the business component of his job with four stores and looking to have more in the future, Jon Weston does not forget the real reason he got into the candy business: the happiness it brings to people.
“Who’s in a bad mood in a candy store? No one’s in a bad mood here,” Weston said.
