What inspired you to open a candy shop in Montauk?
I wanted to create something that was year-round and fun for anyone who comes out. So I figured, why not candy? When you come to a seaside town, you think of nostalgia and of experiences you share with your family that you can do year after year. So even if you come in the dead of winter, it’s like a bright pop of color for everyone to enjoy.
Your candies are from all over the world. How do you source them?
That’s definitely the fun part! We try to focus on unique stuff that you don’t find elsewhere. When I’m on the hunt for a specific candy, we’ll taste 15 different versions until we find our favorite. We don’t have a single source by any means, which is what keeps the store fresh and interesting. We probably have around 100 different vendors, so it definitely helps make the variety unique.
What’s it been like building a business in your hometown?
It’s rewarding to do a small business in the town that you grew up in. When we opened 12 years ago; I saw kids that were 2 or 3, and now they’re literally 15. It’s the same kind of experiences that I remember having when we were younger, so it’s very much full circle. Now that I have a kid, he’s going to grow up in the store and have that whole childhood, too, which is magical. I have no other way to say it other than rewarding; it’s like your heart’s full by doing this.
As a Montauk local, how have you seen the area change over the years?
The town has definitely changed, but so has everywhere in the world. As a business owner, you embrace change; you have to go with the flow. Ten or 12 years ago, most people were still cash only. That doesn’t exist anymore. Now people don’t even take cash. There’s still a sense of small-town community, even 12 years later. Businesses come and go every year, but the spirit of Montauk is still always there. Small businesses like us, and the others that have been here for years, that’s what makes Montauk Montauk. People come back every summer, get their lobster roll, get some candy, watch the sunset—people have their routines that they love doing.
Swedish candy has become such a huge trend recently. Has that influenced what customers are looking for? And what’s your take on it?
Trends are definitely fun because people see them online and get excited to try a candy they don’t get to see elsewhere. It definitely influences what people ask for, but having the ability to find unique candy from all over the world is important. If people come in asking for Swedish candy, yes, we have it, but we also have gummies from Spain and chocolates from Belgium and Ireland. Trends influence what people are requesting, but our umbrella of quality is super important. If something’s trendy and it doesn’t taste good, we don’t have it in the store. Everyone has what they’re good at, so I’m not going to force a sour gummy apple from Sweden if another one is better. We just try to bring in the best.
Candied Anchor has become part of a lot of Hamptons events and celebrations. How did that side of the business grow?
There was definitely a need for it. The first five years we said, “No, we don’t do it,” because I didn’t want to put our name on something that I didn’t think we could execute to the level of quality that I wanted to give. Catering took off right before COVID, and then during COVID, because people were morphing how they celebrated with their friends and family. From there, it just snowballed. People want cute little carts and fun stations, and with candy we can do candy bars or what I call a candy charcuterie board. They’re delicious, they’re super fun, and you can walk up and pick and choose whatever you want.
What are your best sellers?
Some of our most popular chocolates are the chocolate-covered sea salt caramel pretzels. It’s a mini pretzel dunked in caramel, dunked in sea salt, and then rolled in chocolate. That’s probably our top chocolate seller. With gummies, it varies because it is a self-serve candy bar, so people get to pick and choose everything. If people don’t know what they want, I always tell them to grab one of everything they’re curious about. That’s the whole point of a store like this.
What’s your go-to in the shop?
My favorite sour that I always recommend, and it’s still super popular, is the sour gummy lips. Those are imported. The sour gummy octopus from Spain are popular, too.
When you look around the store, 12 years later, what makes you the proudest?
Maybe consistency. It’s still a self-serve candy bar, and even through COVID, when we had to set up a table and scoop the candy for people, we still maintained that level of selection and the personal aspect of it. The nostalgia aspect is important, too. We still have classic retro candies, like Razzles and Warheads, but we also find the newest and the best stuff. The consistency and the quality are what we’ve always tried to uphold, and I’m proud that we’ve been able to keep that.
The Candied Anchor is located at 721 Montauk Highway, Montauk.
Audrey Glass
