A Visit to Sweet Pete’s Candy Shop
Candy stores bring to mind bright colors, Willy Wonka, happiness and sugar rushes. It’s one of those magical childhood places where you think that you are in paradise. Sweet Pete’s Candy Shop in Jacksonville, Florida is the perfect picture of all these things. They have done an amazing job of capturing the essence of childhood happiness. There are lots of picture-perfect places to capture snaps of your adventure including a Social Media Room.
About Sweet Pete’s
Sweet Pete’s was founded by Pete and Allison Behringer. It is the largest candy store in the southeast. Located in a historic 22,000 square foot mansion in the heart of downtown Jacksonville. You may have heard of Sweet Pete’s if you are familiar with CNBC’s show The Profit. That’s when they moved from their Springfield location to one with more foot traffic in downtown Jacksonville, Florida. It’s a really cool story of how they completely turned the business around so that it could thrive.
Our Visit To Sweet Pete’s
My sister had taken the kids (separately) a couple years ago for their birthday but they hadn’t been back since. I thought it would be something fun to do especially since it was chilly and a little rainy out. There is something about candy shops that bring back the kid in you and make you feel happy.
We went early and parked a block over. The shop itself doesn’t have any direct parking. There were no meter charges because it was a Saturday which was nice. The building stands out in downtown and even from the outside, you can tell that it is going to be fun. I warned the kids ahead of time that while I would buy them some candy I was not purchasing any toys. Like all kids, they will find a reason they need another stuffed animal or toy car so I was attempting to set the expectation going in. I didn’t realize that Sweet Pete’s had as many toys as they now had.
Inside The Shop
Sweet Pete’s is three floors, the bottom has a small shop where you can get fudge and specialty items as well as a restaurant- 10/6 Grille. The second floor has candy and ice-cream parlor. The third floor has party rooms, a play area, toys, and a social media room.
I love the staircase, it’s amazing. As you walk up to the second floor there is a decorated area where you can sit and take a picture.
There’s an area on the second floor with some old fashioned candy as well as a place where you can purchase bulk candy in small $5 boxes. There’s also outdoor seating areas that are pretty cool. It was chilly the day we were there so we didn’t sit out there. We’ll have to check it out next time that we go! There’s also an ice cream parlor on the second floor. Since we were going to be eating lunch at the 10/6 Grille we skipped that as well but next time.
On to the Toy Shop
The kids went wild over the toy shop. There was so much stuff up there. Toys and books. Even though we had talked about it several times, they still asked for a toy (who would’ve guessed??!) but I had to stick to my no, even though I did want to give in. There was an Eloise book which my daughter loved. She became a big Eloise fan after we visited The Plaza in New York City.
There was also an area where you could see candy being made.
Social Media Room at Sweet Pete’s
One of our favorite rooms was the Social Media room that had various photo areas set up. This is a MUST SEE area for any family or blogger who is visiting. You can get some adorable shots!
You can see a little more of the setup from the image below taken by my 6-year-old. There’s little square areas set up for the perfect photos.
Our visit was so much fun and also included a complimentary sample of their fantastic Salted Caramels. You can check out more of Sweet Pete’s and even order some of their delicious goodies (including those Salted Caramels) at Sweetpetescandyshop.com. It’s an amazing place to check out.
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