Why it matters:
- Candy is a $40 billion market in the United States.
- Candy sales grew 3% in the U.S. between 2023 and 2024, but sales of novelty candies were up double digits.
- IT'SUGAR is opening new stores at the pace of approximately 15 to 20 locations a year, leaning into an experiential retail strategy to grow the business, as well as offering trendy candy fare, like pickle-flavored taffy.
IT'SUGAR isn't just selling candy at its 120 stores. It's selling sugartainment.
By appealing to consumers' growing appetite both for candy and experiential retail, IT'SUGAR has become the country's largest specialty sweets retailer, with stores in major malls and top tourist destinations, including Times Square in New York and Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. And as CEO Jarett Levan told CO—, the company still has plenty of room to grow.
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Levan also is President and CEO of BBX Capital, the Florida-based diversified holding company that acquired the IT'SUGAR retail chain in 2017.
IT'SUGAR was founded in 2006 by Jeff Rubin, who had previously pushed the envelope for sweets retailing with a pop-up candy store at FAO Schwarz in New York and partnered with Dylan Lauren to create Dylan's Candy Bar.
BBX had been in the candy business since 2012, with the acquisitions of Florida sweets retailer Hoffman's Chocolates and a candy manufacturer.
"We got into the candy business and then realized what a great industry it is," Levan said. "It's hard to find anyone who doesn't like candy."
U.S. consumers spend close to $50 billion a year on chocolates, candy, gums, mints, and other treats, according to the National Confectioners Association (NCA).
The NCA, in its 2024 State of Treating report, projected that U.S. confectionery sales would reach $61 billion by 2028.
'Trends coming off of social media have become a big part of our business,' Levan said. The website has an 'IT'STRENDING' section, and the company promotes its products on TikTok with the hashtag #candytok.
Resuming growth after bankruptcy: Logging $100 million in sales and resuming store expansion
When BBX was looking for other acquisitions in the candy category and was introduced to IT'SUGAR in 2016, "we loved the company, and we loved the concept," Levan said.
Founder Jeff Rubin initially stayed on as CEO but moved into more of an advisory role as chairman in 2023. Levan initially intended to fill in temporarily as the interim CEO, but "I loved it so much I decided to stay on as permanent CEO," he said.
IT'SUGAR had just opened a massive 24,000-square-foot, two-story location at New Jersey's American Dream mega mall at the end of 2019 and was poised for a growth spurt when the pandemic caused the chain, like most retailers, to have to close its stores for part of 2020. That caused the company to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the fall of 2020, but it continued to operate its stores and emerged from bankruptcy less than a year later.
It has since rebounded to the point where it has annual sales of more than $100 million, and it expects to open 15 to 20 stores a year.
Since the beginning of 2025, IT'SUGAR has opened stores in Poughkeepsie and Middletown in New York and Salem, New Hampshire; Mercedes, Texas; and Braintree, Massachusetts.
IT'SUGAR stores are designed to be places where shoppers want to linger and browse, Levan said.
"We encourage you to spend time in our stores," he said. "We encourage you to walk around."
IT'SUGAR CEO: 'You're going to find all different choices that you can't get anywhere else," — like pickle-flavored taffy
The stores, depending on their size, are stocked with somewhere between 150 and 300 bins of bulk candy that customers can choose from – either filling up plastic bags or filling a special container or tin for gifting.
"You're going to find all different choices that you can't get anywhere else," Levan said.
And when people visit the stores, he said, they are probably going to see something that makes them laugh, whether it is a vintage candy from their childhood or a new novelty like a bag of pickle-flavored cotton candy.
'Trends coming off social media have become a big part of our business'
In fact, pickle flavors are having a moment right now. Pickle taffy, pickle cotton candy, and other "dill-icious" treats, as IT'SUGAR markets them, "are on trend right now," fueled by TikTok and other social media posts, Levan said. The Pickle Mystery Box, a $24 assortment of pickle-flavored products, currently is sold out on the IT'SUGAR website.
"Trends coming off of social media have become a big part of our business," Levan said. The website has an "IT'STRENDING" section, and the company promotes its products on TikTok with the hashtag #candytok.
The stores also try to create a fun atmosphere with curated in-store music, featuring a lot of pop hits from the '80s, '90s, and 2000s. The stores are bright and colorful, and the "sugartainers" — the employees — are trained to engage with customers and offer samples.
Last summer IT'SUGAR unveiled its first "character in chief," or cartoon mascot, an animated gumball named Gumble.
The company also has leveraged partnerships with key brands to create specialty departments within its stores, such as an Oreo Café serving milkshakes and other desserts or an M&M's or Haribo gummies boutiques.
There are five flagship stores that are over 15,000 square feet, with the largest — at 30,000 square feet — located in Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. Most of the IT'SUGAR locations range between 2,000 and 5,000 square feet, Levan said.
Expanding its e-commerce reach via exclusive candy launches
The company sells directly to consumers on its website and hopes to expand its e-commerce reach. It typically launches new and exclusive products online as a way to get them to consumers across the country quickly.
IT'SUGAR also sells nonedible clothing and gift items such as candy-themed T-shirts or stuffed animals.
"We use our expertise, and our relationships in candy to not only sell a select and exclusive candy offering but also nonedible offerings that represent either IT'SUGAR or our partner brands," Levan said.
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