Candy store job is usually sweet

By Rinetta Minefee

Chocolate, jumbo jaw breakers, caramel turtles, large gumballs, chocolate stars. All the aromas hit you as you walk into the small store.

“Children walk in with big smiles,” said Ariel Kendall, a happy worker at Candyland and student at the University of St. Thomas.

As far as she is concerned, working at the candy store in downtown Minneapolis is a great way to make money and meet new people. But like all jobs, it has a downside.

Not all people who come in are friendly and good spirited. A lot of the times the police are close by and can calm tense situations, and that’s one of the many reasons that employees must be 16 or older. But mostly children and their parents come in eager to view the sweet selection.

Kendall says that her bosses are lenient. They understand the trials and tribulations that teenagers have with school and other things that come up and are flexible about schedules. Kendall really enjoys her co-workers. Many times when she was really sick and in need of someone to cover for her, they were willing to help her out.

At the same time, it is a job and jobs mean work. In this case, pretty sticky work.

“Working at Candy Land isn’t necessarily the dream job or career you’d expect it to be because you’re always around candy,” said Kendall. “It gets messy in the store and we have to clean a lot.”