A Candy-Filled Stop Along the Road to the Black Hills

Colorful slinkies hanging overhead set the tone in this oversized candy stop: playful, bright and happily unconcerned with restraint. The room is built for wandering, with familiar candy beside old-school treats, bulk bins, specialty chocolates and enough unexpected merchandise to keep a simple errand from staying simple.

This is a useful pause along Highway 16 for travelers headed toward Mount Rushmore, Bear Country and other Black Hills attractions. But it also has enough on its own shelves to justify lingering a while, especially if your original plan was merely to pick up one favorite candy bar.

The selection moves easily between everyday packaged sweets and the candies people remember from much earlier in life. There are current products, familiar mainstream names and nostalgic items that can prompt an immediate, “I haven’t seen those in years.”

Chocolate Necco wafers are one of those specific finds that can turn up here. They are also a good example of how a targeted search can lead somewhere else: a person may arrive looking for one discontinued-looking favorite and leave with a considerably fuller bag.

Lollipops, gummies, jelly beans, fudge, chocolate and other sweet treats keep the browse from settling into one narrow category. The point is not to rush toward a single signature item; it is to compare, remember, reconsider and find another shelf worth checking.

The bulk selection gives the visit its hands-on pleasure. Candy and chocolate sold by weight let shoppers choose individual pieces and make their own mixed assortment rather than committing to a single prepacked bag.

That makes it easy to combine a few dependable favorites with something unfamiliar. A bag can hold gummies, chocolate, jelly beans and a handful of novelty pieces, with no need for everyone in the group to agree on one flavor or one kind of candy.

Jelly Belly dispensers add another stop-and-look feature to the room. For people who enjoy the small decisions—one more flavor, a few more colors, perhaps another scoop just because it has been years—the bulk area can occupy a surprising amount of time.

The shelves reach beyond domestic candy, with international sweets including products from China and Japan. Packaging alone can make these sections fun to explore, and the unfamiliar choices offer a break from the brands most Americans already know by heart.

The international assortment sits naturally beside exotic varieties and themed treats. Inventory changes, as it does in any shop with a broad range of specialty products, but the appeal is in the ongoing possibility of finding something you would not ordinarily see at a grocery checkout.

A prominent hand-dipped chocolate and fudge case gives the store a more confectionery-focused corner amid the packaged candy. Fresh-made chocolates and specialty chocolate selections offer a richer option when a bag of gummies is not quite the mood.

Bulk chocolate is available as well, so chocolate shoppers are not limited to boxed or packaged choices. There are also adult or boozy chocolate selections for visitors whose candy nostalgia has had a few decades to mature.

Novelty soda is a major category here, with a notably broad run of flavors and brands. It is the section where curiosity can easily outrun common sense, in a perfectly harmless way.

Among the unusual flavors that have appeared are ranch and bacon. A bottle like that can be a gag gift, a road-trip experiment or simply proof that soda makers have been given far too much freedom.

For a more conventional drink break, the shop also serves coffee and Italian soda. That gives non-candy companions something to sip while the rest of the group debates the merits of an oddball soda flavor.

Ice cream, including cone-style servings, gives the store a ready-to-eat option rather than just a supply run for later. It is a pleasant way to turn browsing into a pause before getting back on the road.

Popcorn provides the counterweight to all that sugar. Available in multiple purchase options, it is a practical savory choice for a mixed group, especially when one person is filling a bulk bag and another would rather have something salty.

The merchandise extends beyond edible things. Toys, shirts, jewelry, spices, salsas and local products add a gift-shop dimension, so a visit can include more than sweets and soda.

That broader mix suits family browsing particularly well. Children can study the candy displays while adults look through the novelty goods, local items or something to bring home for a person who would appreciate a shirt, spice blend or strange soda more than a bag of jelly beans.

Packaged items make quick purchases easy, but the bulk displays, chocolate case, soda shelves and gift merchandise invite a slower lap through the store. It works well as a road-trip stop because everyone can pursue a different small craving without much negotiation.

The final purchase may be a carefully assembled candy bag, an ice-cream cone, a box of chocolates, popcorn for the car or a bottle of bacon soda destined for someone else’s refrigerator. The shelves leave plenty of room for that sort of decision.