Sugar Rush
Luxury boutique known for Champagne gummies makes Dallas premiere
The "Tiffany's of candy" is opening a store in Dallas. Sugarfina, the luxury candy boutique chain from Beverly Hills, will open its first store in Dallas in NorthPark Center, with more than 150 gourmet candies from around the world, many exclusive to Sugarfina. They don't know an exact opening date but it will definitely be before Valentine's Day.
Located on level one between Nordstrom and Macy’s, the shop will showcase Sugarfina's signature candy bento box experience, where shoppers create their own candy gift box by selecting from a wall of candy cubes that hold chocolates, caramels, gummies, jellies, marshmallows, hard candies, and licorice. Sugarfina candy consultants will offer free samples and assist guests in choosing the perfect candies based on their taste profile. You read that correctly: free samples.
Sugarfina debuted in 2012 as an online company, selling cocktail candies, such as cordials made with single malt scotch, and gummies made with champagne and peach bellinis. Most of its gummies come from the Bavarian region of Germany, where gummy bears were invented, and its hazelnut candies are from the Piedmont region of Italy, said to be home of the finest hazelnuts in the world.
The company opened its first retail store in Beverly Hills in 2013. They now have 24 retail locations plus 15 shops inside Nordstrom stores. In Dallas, some Sugarfina products can be purchased at Market, the boutique at Highland Park Village, but NorthPark Center will be the brand's first shop.
Its crisp aqua-and-white boutiques, displaying hundreds of candies in modern Lucite cubes, earned it a nod as "one of the 10 most beautiful candy shops" by Architectural Digest.
Co-founders are Rosie O'Neill, a former marketing director for Barbie, and Josh Resnick, a former video game entrepreneur.
"We dreamed of gourmet sweets made with premium ingredients, candy that's as beautiful to look at as it is to taste," O'Neill says. "Our new shop will bring delicious, never-before-seen candies to Dallas."
With the design-your-own bento box experience, shoppers can select an 8-, 4-, or 3-piece gift box and build their own from the wall of candy cubes. One area of the store is dedicated to "top shelf" candies — exotic offerings from around the world such as Raindrops & Roses rosewater candies from Italy, Kyoto Blossoms from Japan, and interlocking chocolate wedding rings from Greece. A display tells the story and history behind each candy.
An icon-based labeling system identifies which candies are vegan, vegetarian, fat -free, kosher pareve, kosher dairy, all-natural, non-GMO, and made without gluten.
In-store sampling is a big part of the Sugarfina experience, which is probably something they shouldn't advertise, but associates offer complimentary daily samples with a selection that rotates weekly. They also have a candy "concierge" who helps with custom and corporate gifts, private events, dessert bars, candy tastings, and even marriage proposals.
The boutique will be open mall hours, from 10 am-9 pm Monday-Saturday and 12-6 pm on Sunday.
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