New Belleville Candy Bar serves up a sweet taste of your childhood
To some folks out and about in downtown Belleville, the facade of The Candy Bar at 3 S. High St. may appear a bit vague.
What is it? A bar? A club? It can be hard to tell.
But don’t judge a book by its cover. Or in this case, don’t judge the candy bar by its wrapper.
The Candy Bar is a candy and soda fountain shop.
I recently checked it out, and I have to say, I felt … well, like a kid in a candy store. Both literally and figuratively.
A good amount of The Candy Bar’s inventory unlocked a lot of memories for this ‘80s kid, which is what owner Stephanie Gain intended.
As the former owner of Seven, she was ready for a change after 15 years in the bar and restaurant game.
She said the concept of The Candy Bar came about in October 2023 after brainstorming with her family and asking herself, “What made me happy as a kid?”
The answer was tea parties and candy.
Opening a candy store made sense to Gain, in part because it’s something she loved growing up. (She’s also working on opening a tea shop too. More on that at a later date, when she’s ready.)
The Candy Bar would also fill a void left behind when Crafty Sugar Co. permanently closed in August 2023. People, families in particular, really missed Crafty Sugar Co., according to Gain.
With candy in mind, Gain knew she had a new shot at running her own business. She started researching candy stores and feels she’s come a long way in the last year.
What you’ll find
The Candy Bar offers a wide selection of goodies popular in the 1980s and earlier as well as some newer brands.
Gain admitted that her candy rep had to convince her not to go too crazy with buying even more candy for the shop, advising her to start off slow to see how certain items perform.
I don’t blame her for her enthusiasm. I can almost trace a timeline that connects my childhood through high school years with offerings that include Candy Buttons, PEZ, Pop Rocks, Melody Pops, Now and Laters, Fun Dip, Bubble Tape … It’s a nice, long list.
Some of the goods go back a bit further: Clove Chewing Gum, Moon Pie, Chick-O-Stick, Necco Wafers, Sugar Babies, among others.
Bulk bins of bubble gum, candies and nuts are available. Another display holds more bulk bins with 10 separate flavors of Jelly Belly jellybeans and more than 20 different flavors and mixes of the brand’s bagged beans.
The Candy Bar has an old-fashioned soda fountain fully loaded with sodas from Excel Bottling Company on draft, Bosco flavored syrups for sodas and ice cream, supplied by Serendipity Homemade Ice Cream in St. Louis.
Gain’s first job was at White Cottage, so she’s excited to offer ice cream treats. She even has fancy spoon straws for floats.
The soda fountain menu includes:
Cows of All Sorts (floats): brown, black, orange, purple, blue, pink and strawberry blonde
Just a Float: root beer, cola, orange dreamsicle
Fresh Squeezed Lemonade
Fresh Spun Cotton Candy
Ice Cream (dish or cone): vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, vegan vanilla
Sundae (with whipped cream, cherry, sprinkles and/or nuts)
Classic Banana Split
Classic New York Egg Cream (combo of whole milk, chocolate syrup and seltzer – a chocolate milk soda)
Classic Soda Jerk Favorites: Rickeys, Phosphates, Italian Sodas
Available syrup flavors are cherry, black cherry, lime, lemon, orange, strawberry, blue raspberry, coconut, vanilla, green apple, blackberry and red raspberry.
Inspired by the past
As for the space itself, it’s come a long way since Seven was open.
Starting in mid-July, all of the walls, once green, were painted white, giving Gain a blank canvas to create a totally new atmosphere.
She felt a lot of pressure to fill the space.
“It was harder than I thought,” she said.
Gain looked at her own childhood, what she liked and what she remembered, not just the candy but different areas of pop culture. As she built the shop, she “kinda became a kid again,” listening to music and playing cartoons while she worked.
It all came together from there, she said.
Familiar characters can be found throughout the décor and the candy itself, including Funko Pop vinyl figures of Prince and Freddie Mercury, PEZ dispensers of Star Wars, Looney Tunes and comic book characters, and themed candies featuring “The Golden Girls” and “The Office.”
Some specific candies in the shop are marked via “tokens” featuring names of Gain’s friends and loved ones who share memories surrounding these items, like an inside joke or a you-had-to-be-there event.
A flatscreen plays cartoons and other videos. Garfield cartoons from the ‘80s – which I loved growing up – were playing during my visit.
The shelving along the walls, much of it made from storebought bookshelves turned sideways, was installed and reinforced by her “Master Builder” and friend, Roelie Barendregt.
She said Barendregt also built the shelving for the bulk bins along the back wall and is still working on finishing touches for the soda fountain area.
Gain found the bulk bins and some great retro-style furniture on Facebook Marketplace. Chrome-edged tables and matching chairs and barstools give the place the feel of a classic soda shop or diner.
The bar and taps were repurposed from Seven and given a makeover. The countertops were painted white and adorned with different sized circle stickers. The edges are painted in stripes to give the appearance of syrups dripping down the sides. The former beer taps now deliver the available Excel sodas.
Colorful light fixtures over the soda fountain area look like lollipops hanging from the ceiling.
The shop’s phone, a functional analog phone, is painted to resemble the Fisher-Price Chatter Telephone, cute smile and all.
Full of fun with more to come
Some of the fun features of The Candy Bar include a free-to-play pinball machine next to the Jelly Belly display.
Gain can tell you a story of how that particular pinball machine relates to Jelly Belly. She also knows a bit about how Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups came to be and the relationship between the Hershey and Reese family businesses.
She would love to have family game nights and has a small stash of board games and cards on hand for those interested in playing. More games will be added over time.
With a lot of new ideas in the works for 2025, Gain will test different events and ideas to see what works.
For now, she’s enjoying her new candyland and loves seeing families come to the shop, particularly the looks on parents’ faces when they recognize sweets from their pasts.
“Seven took all of me. This,” she said of The Candy Bar, “is all of me.”
About The Candy Bar
The Candy Bar is located at 3 S. High St. in downtown Belleville.
Hours are currently noon to 7 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, noon to 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.
For more information, call 618-744-7044.
