“The whole idea behind the remodel is to create a new experience,” Beers said. “When a customer opens the door, I really just want them to be blown away. I really just want them to pause for a minute and go ‘Wow. This is how you do a candy store.’ ”
Beers sought to do that last week by shutting down the shop Sunday evening for more than three business days, adding a host of upgrades, including new fixtures, throughout the interior and redesigning its World Famous $5 Candy Buffet. The shop unveiled the changes Thursday afternoon, including a relocation and increase of its craft soda selection, which is up to more than 250 types from all over the country.
“You’ll see brand new sodas from small breweries and you’ll also see that we’ve expanded Grandpa Joe’s branded sodas” including sodas flavored to taste like cotton candy, pickle, bacon, ketchup and sarsaparilla, he said. “Those have been extremely popular, so those are all featured on the wall now, as well.”
A new 10-foot-by-10-foot space highlights an expanded selection of international candies and snacks, including Lay’s potato chips from Thailand with “crazy flavors” like Spicy Crayfish, Spicy Lobster and Salted Egg.
Grandpa Joe’s Candy Shop also added a large section dedicated to toys and games and an old farmhouse table where game demonstrations will be held and where customers can come in and play games to test them out before they buy them.
“We sell a lot of board games and unique games that nobody’s ever heard of,” Beers said. “Buying the game and reading the small description on the back, you’re not really quite sure what you’re going to get. You’re not even going to purchase it because you’re just hesitant. When you sit down and you play the game together, it turns out (you end up saying) ‘Wow, this was a cool game.’ ”
The renovation also added a train suspended from the ceiling, one that can be controlled by a child pushing a button to activate it. The movie “Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory” plays on a loop inside a newly installed entertainment unit that highlights a dedicated section of “all things Wonka Candy.”
Beers founded Grandpa Joe’s Candy Shop in Pittsburgh in 2012. The brand has 12 locations, including the Miamisburg shop, which opened in 2016 in a space previously occupied by the historic Paff Jewelry Store. Other Grandpa Joe’s locations in Ohio include include Troy, Middletown, Chillicothe, Cuyahoga Falls and St. Clairsville.
“I really want to go back into the communities that we’re in that have been so good to us for these years and reinvest in them, make sure that we’re committed to being a part of the downtown community with donation requests, that type of thing,” Beers said.
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