You’re walking home from the library just before dark, and you’re simultaneously craving gummy bears, chocolate, and sour belts. After four long hours of working on that 20-page term paper, you totally deserve a reward. A simple Hershey bar just won’t cut it tonight. Luckily for us, the Bear-y Sweet Shoppe will soon answer our prayers. Come January, the [fully loaded] candy shop will be the newest addition to the row of student-run stores on the path to the South 40. Get excited.
Wash U students and soon-to-be owners of the Bear-y Sweet Shoppe, Mary-Brent Brown, Jessica Landzberg, Shea Gouldd, and Kailey Dreyfus are all active members of the University’s Entrepreneurship Club that they started with the desire to be more involved on campus.
From left to right: Gouldd (2017), Dreyfus (2016), Landzberg (2017), Brown (2017)
“There used to be an Entrepreneurship Club around 10 years ago but it fizzled out,” said Landzberg, a sophomore. “We wanted to bring back a community for all those who are interested in entrepreneurship. We organize speaker presentations with entrepreneurs, such as Maxine Clark, the founder of Build-A-Bear, to create an atmosphere on campus that fosters creativity, collaboration, and most importantly, entrepreneurship.”
At the end of last year’s Fall semester, the four came up with an idea for a candy shop and began working on a proposal to pitch to Wash U’s StEP (Student Entrepreneurship Program) board. Keep in mind, students who want to open a store on campus must fulfill all requirements of a St. Louis or Clayton business, including choosing suppliers, establishing a bank account, obtaining licenses and so forth. It was no easy task, but this driven team of women set forth on their mission with determination.
“Everything was initially under wraps because of technicalities, but now we’ve figured out all the details and the store is a complete reality,” said Dreyfus, a junior. “We’re honestly just so excited for it to open.”
Given the service-centered nature of the stores currently on the South 40, such as Wash U Wash and Wydown Water, Brown, Landzberg, Gouldd, and Dreyfus are eager to revive the strip of storefronts with some foot traffic. As part of the StEP program, they are not permitted to hire employees, so the team of four will be manning the shop at all times.
“We will be rotating shifts to make it work with our schedules, since one of us has to be there at all times,” said Dreyfus. “Unfortunately, we won’t be getting any free candy!”
Now, for the fun part! What will it be like? Picture this: rows and rows of bulk-style candy containers. Are you drooling yet? You’ll be able to grab a bag and fill it up to your liking, whether it is with gummy worms, jellybeans, or chocolate. Trust me, this list could go on forever. In order to avoid direct competition with Bon Appétit, the store is not permitted to sell brand name products, like Hershey bars and Skittles. Don’t worry- this isn’t even close to a bummer, considering they have some killer candy suppliers.
“It’s good, like… really good,” Gouldd laughed.
I would say I’ll take their word for it, but I think I’m going to need to sample everything just to decide for myself…
Be sure to check out the Bear-y Sweet Shoppe Kickstarter and the post on the Olin Business School blog to learn more about the shop and the story behind it all.