East City Gets a Sweet Tooth From Entrepreneur's Dream and Perseverance
/Entrepreneur Danielle McIver has made East City a little more colourful and sweeter with her new candy store, Flossophy that opened in mid-June.
Danelle McIver holding one of most popular items, the cotton candy. Some of several flavours include unicorn, green apple and even dill pickle. Photo Courtesy of Flossophy.
McIver’s business features hand-spun cotton candy, popcorn, tempered chocolate bars, sundaes and jarred candies. All except the last option are made from scratch in the store.
“I have always just kind of been obsessed with candy and sweets in general,” explained McIver. “I wanted a throwback with the candy jars. A ’50 or ‘60s style crossed with a downtown LA look.”
New cotton candy flavours are regularly added and often sell out from the first two weeks the business has been open. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
Despite the store opening this past month, it operated on a smaller scale back in March last year at the beginning of the pandemic.
McIver’s idea of selling cotton candy came while she attempted to start a party company where cotton candy was part of the business.
After noticing that the fluffy candy’s sales were sky-high, McIver got the idea to pursue it on a larger scale. She was selling tons of cotton candy from her home as curbside pickup and had the idea of opening her own shop.
“The perseverance is having the idea and just wanting to see it succeed,” said McIver. “We started branching out. We started tempering chocolate so we need a shop and a full kitchen.”
All popcorn seasonings are made and created in-house. Ingredients such as coconut oil have made it into some popcorn flavours. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
Flossophy’s selection is notorious for its outrageous and unique flavours. Cotton candy can range from original to fruity flavours like apple and banana to strange ones like dill pickle and “hot mama”. Popcorn can range from savoury flavours like sushi roll and pizza to sweet like Nanaimo and churro.
Tempered chocolate bars have toppings embedded such as popcorn or pretzels fitting the theme of a “movie night” flavour.
Sundaes feature a wide variety of toppings, all with their own theme and a number unique toppings such as crushed cereal and cotton candy bits.
“I love change, I love variety and I love a challenge,” said McIver. “You find a new pivot. This is what I love about Flossophy, I get to explore this creative outlet.”
Flossophy often stocks rarer candies such as crème brûlée and chili pepper gummies that are typically not found at any big chain stores. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
Since opening the store, Flossophy’s business has boomed with several items often selling out. The store is adapting to the sudden growth and demand of the customer base but it is a good problem to have noted McIver.
“(Business is) overwhelming but in the best way possible,” she said. “It’s good to know that people know that they like your product. The shop should feel like an experience when you go so that’s really important to me and the response has been amazing.”
The store is located on 75 Hunter St. E. next to Revive Hair Lounge. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
