How Sweet It Is

Nine-year-old Jackson McCarthy was enjoying a few bites of his brick oven pizza slice at with his family last summer when the idea hit him.

“How about opening a store across the street in that vacant shop?” he offered.

The family tossed around a few ideas that Jackson felt would appeal to kids in town. An arcade with a collection of video games? That didn’t seem to generate excitement. What do kids like, can afford or just crave?

It did not take long for the brainstorming session to conclude that kids love candy—chocolate bars, taffy pulls or sugarcoated gumdrops. Thus was born .

Jackson’s mom, Kristen Albright, an event planner for the past six years, saw the opportunity to sweeten her home-based business with the candy shack that could offer party favors, T-shirts and other customized candy items. She has her own website for her event planning business (Kristen Albright’s Event Planning, 610-742-1353).

“We also plan to bring in customized Cranbury pieces such as T-shirts that can be used for family reunions,” Albright also added. [Editor’s note: Since this interview, those items have appeared. They're now available in the store.]

“We tried to bring back that old time idea of the penny candy store but nothing is a penny anymore. However, lots of kids come in here and spend a dime. We have plenty of items for 10 cents.”

For this reporter, I was back in the fourth grade like Jackson McCarthy when I said, “Sure, but I bet you don’t have Bonamo’s Turkish Taffy.” That’s when Jackson, the nine-year-old entrepreneur, spotted one of my favorite candies from yesteryear. “We have Bonamo’s right here behind you. We have a lady who comes in and buys plenty of them,” Jackson revealed.

I remembered extracting a nickel from my grandmother and going down to Sid’s Candy store, grabbing a Bonamo’s Turkish Taffy and then smacking it on the sidewalk, savoring all the brittle chunks that revealed themselves inside the white wrapper.

Albright explained another motivating factor to open a candy shop in town.

“We were new to Cranbury after our relocation from West Chester, Pa. and we thought this would be a good way to meet new friends and neighbors,” she pointed out.  

I asked Kristin if, surrounded by sweet treats and mounds of chocolate all day, there was the temptation to consume most of the profits as well as enjoy some unwelcome calories.

The ever-perky Albright countered with confidence, “Not really,” as she handed me the business card of Bill DeSimone, her personal trainer, who owns and oversees his Optimal Exercise Studio at 278 Maplewood Ave., just up the block from Albright’s retail shop.

Jack’s Candy Shack has been at 60 North Main St. since December, 2010, across from the post office and Cranbury Pizza, the place where the seeds of their business idea were planted.

Albright has covered the possible needs of kids with special dietary restrictions and allergies. She offers sugar-and peanut-free treats as well as other dairy- or corn-syrup-limited items.

However, if you need the good stuff there are the favorites such as Warheads, Mega Buttons and the World’s Smallest Gummy Bears, not to mention my favorite—Bonamo’s Turkish Taffy.

If you are looking to add a special touch to your Sweet Sixteen, bridal shower or a family holiday event, you may want to stop in and speak to Kristen Albright at Jack’s Candy Shack in Cranbury.

If you, too, crave browsing through shelves, bins and barrels of sweet treats or perhaps bringing in a grandchild to relive your own penny candy youth, you might discover a candy that you kept hidden in your school desk from your fourth-grade teacher. Were they Necco Wafers, Candy Buttons on paper tape, a Chunky bar and maybe Wax Bottles?

It seems as if Main Street has now hit the trifecta of culinary delights—a , a and the coup de grace: your favorite candy treat.