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Sweet tooth sufferers beware - there’s a unique store in West Volusia that carries nearly every kind of candy imaginable. Candy Castle, owned by Bill and Cindy Dupont, opened in Victoria Square Shopping Center last November. The couple operated a similar store for seven years in Maine.

Why sell candy? " Because it’s an incentive to make people happy," Bill Dupont said. "And it makes me happy selling it.""It’s a fun thing,’ Cindy Dupont said.

Walking inside the door is almost like entering a time warp, with shelf after shelf of candies that were popular 10, 20, 30, and even 50 or more years ago. Hard-to-find vintage candies like Mary Janes, Candy Buttons, Coconut Bars, even a full line of penny candy, fill bin after bin in the store.

Sweets of more recent vintage are ever-present, too, like Necco wafers, Jolly Ranchers, Bit-O-Honey, Oh Henry bars, Sugar Daddy, Dots and Mallow Cups. You can also find chewing gum and bubble gum of all kinds: Dubble Bubble, Freshen-Up, and Clove gums, for instance.

Contemporary tastes are accommodated, too, by the likes of Too Tarts liquid sour candy, which is a big hit with school children; War Head lollipops, another popular choice among students today; Sweethearts, the classic candy updated messages; and a variety of Hershey’s, Nestle’s, M&M/Mars, and other current best sellers.

Most of the sweet things are sold individually, but many are also available for those who have a really, really serious craving for sweets. There’s also a variety of toys, balloons and collectable porcelain dolls and plates. A stack of drawers featuring 10-cent toys that are ideal for filling pinatas or Christmas stockings.

"There are a lot of good buys here, and some gifts at reasonable prices," Bill Dupont said proudly. Candy Castle has been a hit with nearly everyone who’s found it in its short existence so far, said Cindy, who fondly calls her husband "Willy Wonka." She said customers tell her "it’s like a walk down memory lane" or "I feel like a kid again" after they come into the store and see all the goodies they haven’t seen in years. In turn, she tells the, "You could become a kid again when you come here."

Bill Dupont, 58, worked in retail sales all his life. "If people get treated right and you take care of them, that’s what business is all about," he said. The Duponts are returning home, in a way, with the opening of this store. The couple lived in Deltona before heading to Maine, and their return to Florida is for health reasons.

Bill Dupont is a diabetic and his right leg has been broken a couple of times, and the frigid Maine winters made his limb very painful. While the diabetes is a drawback in his life, his customers can benefit from it. "This store, because I am diabetic and I have feelings for people, I keep the prices low on sugar-free candy," he said. That, he said, is a plus not only for those like him who are diabetic, but for folks in nursing homes or others who have restricted diets. His prices for sugar-free candy is a third to half as expensive as elsewhere, he said.

Candy Castle is completely different than any other store in the Sunshine State, he said. "There is no store in the state of Florida that I know of that sells and merchandises the way I do," he said. To stock such a store, and price its commodities requires an owner to spend "half the work week just buying and looking and talking," he said.

The Duponts also go to candy conventions to scout their competition and get the latest information on what’s selling. It’s at those conventions that Bill and Cindy find sources for the candies that make their store unique. Candy Castle has been host for a couple of educational field trips for elementary school students. "We have candy these kids’ grandparents and great-grandparents used to eat, but they don’t see anymore," Cindy Dupont said. "(Bill) does a nice little thing with them, talking about sales and marketing."

Her husband said, "I talk to them about how it was years ago, maybe a little bit on how (candy) is made." Dupont can also supply candy to be sold by schools or other groups for fund raising. Old-fashioned candy, old-fashioned service. Or as Bill Dupont puts it, "The atmosphere here is a happy one. It’s all fun stuff here."

TWO LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU

1728 S. Woodland Blvd. DeLand - 904-734-0066
(17-92 & 15-A Near Movie Theatre)
& 2401 E. Graves Ave. Orange City - 904- 917-0311
(I-4 & E. Graves Near Movie Theatre)

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