Grandpa Joe’s Candy Shop To Be a Sweet Addition to Centre Market Area of Wheeling
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Wheeling's Centre Market will get sweeter soon with the arrival of Grandpa Joe's Candy Shop, a one-stop shopping destination for candy from every decade all over the world.
The first Grandpa Joe's to hit the state, and 15th total, will occupy the former SMART Center building located on 22nd Street right next to Centre Market's Upper Market House. The official opening date has yet to be announced.
Christopher Beers, founder and owner of Grandpa Joe's, says the plan to bring his business to Wheeling has been in the works for a while.
"I've had my eye on Wheeling and that specific location right next to Center Market for about three years," he said. "I love what's going on in the Center Market area right there, with all of the unique mom-and-pop and independently owned stores."
Grandpa Joe's first location opened in Pittsburgh's Strip District in 2012. Since then, the franchise has grown into 15 locations across Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida.
The new shop will boast more than 250 candy bars and 100 bulk candies that will line the walls from floor to ceiling, as well as 250 different bottled sodas and a variety of unique novelty gifts. In addition to today's favorites, Grandpa Joe's selection features international and hard-to-find retro candies.
Grandpa Joe's is also home to a $5 candy buffet. Customers have the opportunity to fill a box with their favorite sweets, regardless of the weight, with the only rule being that the lid has to close.
Beers said his own candy shop experiences led him to create his original version of the candy buffet.
"In the old days you would go to the mall candy store and fill a bag with candy and they would charge you $12.99 a pound or a half pound, and as parents we told our kids, that's enough, don't put any more candy in the bag," he said. "Now when a customer comes in, the parents are telling them to put more candy in the box because they want to make sure they're getting that value."
The name Grandpa Joe's is a nod to his favorite movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which plays on loop in all of his locations. With moving parts, light-up signs and a conveyor belt system, Beers says he wants all of his locations to be an experience as a whole, not just a candy shop.
"You know, we see couples come in for date night and they'll spend 45 minutes in the store just going from aisle to aisle laughing and remembering and just sharing stories about the candies that they grew up on," he said.
While an opening date is still in the works, Beers said the Wheeling opening can't come soon enough.
"This is a passion for me," he said. "I love to create the candy store experience, and I love the fact that I continue to find small-town communities who embrace Grandpa Joe's."