Apsley Couple Find TikTok Fame With Their Sweet Shop Tastely Box

James and Polly Laneville opened Tastely Box, a candy shop that offers curated boxes of sweets from around the world, in April. What started as a small online shop has burst into a brick and mortar store and over 300k TikTok followers.

James and Polly with their curated boxes. Photo by Angela O’Grady.

Polly used to make ‘date night’ boxes for her and her husband with treats she could find from around the world.

“He was like hey this is a really good idea, I think people would like this,” she said. “We always knew we wanted to go into business together we just weren’t entirely sure with what.”

Polly says their idea kept getting pushed back, but when the pandemic hit they found themselves with more time on their hands.

“We were busy with kids, parents, normal work life - but when the pandemic hit it just gave us a second to step back and look at the whole big picture,” said Polly Laneville. “We decided let’s just dive in and see what happens.”

What started as a side hustle has quickly become a full time job for the pair.

Now the store curates themed boxes of candy from all around the world. Themed boxes include Japanese, Mexican, British, U.S.A and Canadian. They also offer themes like ‘Peanut Butter Lover’, ‘Pucker Up Sour’ and ‘Chocoholic’.

“We had some videos going viral, but they weren’t enough to really grab peoples attention,” said Laneville.

After posting a 25 second video introducing their brand to Canada they ‘blew up’ in the TikTok world.

“It slowed down before we went to sleep, but when we woke up the next morning our phones wouldn’t stop ‘cha-chinging’. We had sale after sale after sale - we had 200 sales come in within a 24 hour period. That’s when we realized this wasn’t slowing down.”

Now Tastely Box has already outgrown their brick-and-mortar storefront and hired three employees.

The Laneville’s have plans to put a warehouse somewhere nearby and expand their current location to better serve their in-person customers.

“As soon as we get boxes made they go right out the door.”

Polly says they have big plans for the new year, though she doesn’t want to give away any of their surprises.

Boxes can be ordered through their online shop, and bought at their store located at 10020 ON-28, Apsley.

If planning on ordering for Christmas the cutoff for delivery is Dec. 3.

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