Robin Burnette used to own a hardware store. But it wasn’t really for him.
“You’re always dealing with the kind of customer that comes in and they’re grumpy,” he says, recalling that most shoppers were frustrated with a home repair and looking for a solution. “You’re always helping them recover from a bad mood.”
The whole thing was just too much negative energy for Robin. So he decided to get out of hardware and into something a little happier — candy.
That was a little more than four years ago. And since then he’s founded Sticky’s Candy LTD, a confectionery chain in western Canada with 25 stores and growing.
At the time, Burnette said he didn’t feel like anyone was really doing candy stores to the level he wanted to do them in his area. So he took three weeks off from the hardware store, and did some research.
“I went through just about all my competitors’ stores. I wrote down what they were doing right, and what I thought they were doing wrong,” he says.
It was enough to convince him that he could pull it off. So he partnered with Frank Efremjan, and the two worked to come up with a name.
“We came up with a lot of names. My partner wanted to call it, ‘You suck it,’” he recalls laughing. “It was funny, but kind of a gray area. We don’t even sell candy underwear. We want it to be a family experience.”
They decided to go with Sticky’s because, “candy makes your fingers sticky.”
Interested in more nostalgia? Then check out the links below to view our three part series showcasing great examples of classic POP.
