By Harry Bateman,Lauren Harte
Copyright belfastlive
There are many iconic sweet treats that remind you of your childhood or years gone by. And many of these sweets, crisps and chocolate can be found in a well-known traditional sweet shop in Co Down . Curious Candy in Bangor is famous for its retro treats and it will be taking a step back in time this weekend as it marks its 20th birthday. The small family business, offering the widest range of traditional weighed-out classic sweets, pick ‘n’ mix, American candy and worldwide imports, was first established back in 2005. Jacqueline and Glenn McKeown took over the reins in 2018 and for those last seven years former electrician Jacqueline has been living out her childhood dream of running her very own traditional sweet shop. And just like the sweet shops of yesteryear, hundreds of jars containing colourful treats still line the shelves behind the counter of the Market Street shop for those looking to satisfy that sweet tooth. Glenn and Jacqueline still weigh out the huge assortments of candies for customers of all ages, from toddlers to pensioners, using traditional scales. Whether it’s your old style quarters or those hard to find items from around the world, you can expect to find them at Curious Candy. Speaking to Belfast Live when we paid a visit this week, the couple explained how their sweet career move came about. Glenn told us: “Never in a million years would you have caught me saying that I would have owned a sweet shop or had any sort of bricks and mortar business. I left school back in 2005, whenever the shop actually initially opened and I went into a plumbing apprenticeship. “I went through that for a few years and then the recession came back in 2007, so a lot of businesses fell away and one of those businesses was mine. I headed off into a career in sales, jumped about different jobs and then eventually met Jacqueline, and this is where we are now, we have a sweet shop!” For Jacqueline, it all started off with a family promise: “When I grew up I wanted to be one of two things – one was a plumber or the other one was to own a sweet shop. My granddad always promised me as a child that he would buy me a sweet shop when I got older. He seemed to have forgotten that and I had to buy it myself! “Luckily for me, when we did purchase the shop, my granddad was still here to see it and was very proud that I did get my dream. I was quite close with my granddad all through my life, so it was good that he got to see my dream come true. “When people walk into our shop, the first thing they get hit with is the smell and it takes them right back down memory lane to their childhood again,” she said. Glenn added: “Curious Candy initially started out in Central Avenue, supplying Bangor and the surrounding areas with all their sweet treats. After taking over the shop, we expanded the range of sweets and quickly realised with the loyal support, we needed to move to our current larger store. “Our home delivery service has allowed us to expand the shop’s reach and now we have customers travelling from all over Ireland, north and south, to visit us here in Bangor.” Fast forward to today and as the business marks its milestone, Glenn says TikTok plays a big part in their trade as he highlighted some of the current candy crazes: “The pickles in a pouch that we sourced from America is one of the more random flavours – it’s the Pringles themed one that’s sour cream and onion. “You also have the likes of a KFC gummy meal so it’s your chicken legs, chicken thighs, and then you’ve got all your sauces in with it as well. Also popular right now are edible jelly sweets. They’re peelable sweets that come with edible animals inside as well.” And those of us of a certain age will well remember that little yellow pack of Juicy Fruit. “One of the most popular items that we’ve brought in in the last few months would be Juicy Fruit. You will remember these from back in the 90s here in the UK and Ireland. They’re still manufactured in the States and that will be one of the more niche, unique items that nobody else here can source that we can find,” Glenn added. To mark Curious Candy’s 20th birthday this weekend, Jacqueline and Glenn say they will be giving customers old and new a little something back after many years of support. Glenn explained: “This weekend we will be doing a bit of a birthday celebration. From Friday through to Sunday, all of our pick and mix or jellies and fizzies will be reduced back down to the prices that they were in 2005, which is 70p/100g. “Through the weekend there’s different offers running from our ice cream supplier, our freeze dried candy and different things like that as well. Then through to Sunday, we will have a local treasure hunt round the whole of Bangor, but we will be going into local businesses here, buying gift vouchers as a bit of a support local campaign as well, so there will be prizes from local businesses in and around the area.” Jacqueline added: “We are very fortunate that we have got really great support from the local community and further afield. I think part of it is because we are the face of the business. “Either Glenn or I are normally here and it’s lovely that we have been accepted as business owners in the town. For example, when our son Alex was born, a lot of our customers were buying us gifts for Alex because people were just so nice. “We appreciate everybody who has walked through our door, whether they’ve come in for one quarter or whether they’re regularly in every week.” Video by Belfast Live videographer Harry Bateman. For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.
