Candy Store a Sweet Spot

 Walking down Main Street in Gresham, you’re bound to be drawn in by a multitude of exciting restaurants, secondhand stores, and shops. Toys, books, clothing, coffee, tacos: Shopping around in Gresham is not an average experience, it’s an adventure, and like any good adventure, it’s best to end it with a treat.

Enter iCandy, a sweets shop located at the corner of Fourth and Main. Like most candy stores it sells a variety of colorful confections, but unlike most candy stores it offers ice cream, popcorn, cotton candy, boba drinks, fudge, and cookie dough.

This wide assortment of tasty options elevates the place from candy shop to “center of sweetness.”

The road to creating this version of iCandy was not an expected one for part owner Sydney Joyner. Joyner grew up with the business that her aunt began in 2011.  

“I helped build the original iCandy down the street,” Joyner said. It wasn’t until about a decade later at a family baby shower when her aunt explained she was ready to move on, that things changed.

“My dad and I joked about it: ‘What if we bought it?’ ” Joyner explained. What she didn’t expect, however, was the freaky phone call from her father later asking, “So are we going to do this?” With some hesitation, she left her fulfilling job as a bank loan officer and took a chance on a little candy shop in Gresham.

 “Everything changed in a week,” she said, and the rest is history.

Since then, iCandy really has evolved and grown in many ways, but the goal is always the same: To be a light in Gresham, to encourage joy and positivity, and of course, to bring the candy.

“My favorite thing about my job is talking to the customers and making them feel happy through candy and connection,” employee Charlotte Feasey said. “People like it when you’re personal with them and you take an interest in their lives. You never know the impact it might have on their day.”

And that’s the secret. To most of us, sugar and candy is not a daily necessity, but at iCandy, it doesn’t matter, because that all comes second. To the shop, the most important aspect of the business is the people it serves.

“They’re the reason that we’re here,” Joyner said, “So, always go above and beyond. That’s what we try to do here.”  

Competitive prices and quality sweets, though a substantial part of its success, can only take a business so far. Kindness and personable service will make a place truly special. Next time you’re cruising on a Main Street adventure, remember to end the fun with a little something sweet, at iCandy.

Jake Oeck