Sugary delight
Candy store in southern Minnesota offers sweet attraction
September 27, 2014
What started as a simple apple stand off the side of the road in Jordan, Minnesota expanded into a giant yellow barn home of Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store.
It is a family business owned by the Wagner family for almost 40 years. Herb Wagner started the candy store after having a successful apple farming business.
“I had too many apples than I knew what to do with, so I built a barn,” Wagner said.
While Wagner initially built the yellow barn as a place to store and sell apples, the barn soon added can- dy and other goods. Now, the barn is home to 155 different kinds of root beer, 87 kinds of licorice, the world’s largest soda section and America’s biggest puzzle store.
Families from all over Minnesota, including students from Park, go to Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store for the huge selection of products sold. Junior Andrew Sams said he visits the candy store annually for the large se- lection of candy.
“I bought plenty of things there. My favorite stuff to buy is, strangely, the bacon flavored stuff,” Sams said.
The store is almost completely family run, with only a few employees not being part of the Wagner family. This includes the manager of the candy store, James Hendrickson
“There’s three generations of Wagner family members working here. I’m one of the few employees that is not a member of the family,” Hendrickson said.
The Wagner family also has their own way of conducting business. There is no website, email or phone number for the store. The business strays away from social media in hopes to create a more unique candy store.
“We want the store to stand out from other common retailers,” Hendrickson said.
In accordance with their business philosophy, the candy found within the store is not commonly found any- where else.
“It’s nostalgic, all homemade items you can only get here. We pur- posefully don’t buy certain items that you can buy at a Holiday or Walmart, because we don’t want to be them,” Hendrickson said.
Junior Emily Hinz said she appre- ciates the store’s unique selection of candy, especially many of the bacon flavored sweets.
“I hope to get to the store before summer ends because I heard they have bacon flavored candy and mints,” Hinz said.
The majority of the products sold at Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store are made by Minnesotans. The Wagner family turns to friends and locals for their products.
“We make a few products in house, like the pies, but we contact a lot of local suppliers that we rely on,” Hendrickson said.
Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store is open everyday from July to November from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Even within this time frame the candy store still gets many costumers.
“We get about 6,000 on a Saturday and 7,000 customers on a Sun- day,” Wagner said.
Wagner looks at the store as a kind of family entertainment. For many Park families, including the Sams family, trips to the candy store have become traditions.
“It’s become a yearly family out- ing and it’s always fun to see the new stuff they have every year,” Sams said.
With the polka music playing all day and the wide variety of foods, students could enjoy a day at Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store. From bacon flavored mints to the caramel apple pies, students are guaranteed to find something they will enjoy.
