NYC’s viral Swedish candy store just quietly opened a new spot in Brooklyn
Perhaps you've seen the lines snaking around the block. Or the viral TikToks. Or the pastel pink bags with BonBon in blue cursive writing. Swedish candy is having a moment in New York City right now, and BonBon - A Swedish Candy Co is at the center of it.
The store, which we at Time Out have loved for a long time, has recently gained mega popularity on the Internet and at its three stores in New York City. It just quietly opened a fourth store—this one in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
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BonBon's new Red Hook store (66 Degraw Street) is actually inside its warehouse. Inside the industrial space, they've added BonBon's signature shelving packed with candy. You'll find plenty of gummy candies, chocolates, and licorice, which you can scoop into a pink bag for your very own pick-and-mix. All the candies are imported from Sweden and some (like the Swedish fish) are even made exclusively for BonBon.
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The Red Hook store joins BonBon’s other locations in the Lower East Side, Williamsburg, and Upper East Side. While each store is dedicated to serving up delightful and decadent candies, the design of each offers its own flair. For the Red Hook location, expect a major candy library and the home to the local chain’s treasure vault of candy.
Though the rest of BonBon’s stores are open late (10am-midnight daily), the Red Hook location offers limited hours on weekends only. The HQ retail hours are on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 11am-5pm—which makes sense considering it’s also an active warehouse during the week.
In addition to candy, the Red Hook shop will also serve BonBon’s Swedish-style hot dogs on Sundays during store hours.
With a passion for sweet treats, friends and fellow Swedes Selim Adira, Bobby Persson and Leo Schaltz founded the company in 2018. In Sweden, candy is a pretty big deal, especially on the weekends as children there traditionally only eat candy on Saturdays. There's even a word for it: Lördagsgodis, which translates to Saturday sweets, as the BBC explains.
Candy is a way of life.
"For the owners, candy is a way of life," a spokesperson for the shop said. "The owners are Swedish, and Swedes consume the most candy out of any country in the entire world."
After six years in NYC, BonBon has become a darling of social media this year. As of mid-January, they added a disclaimer on the website noting that shipping orders have been delayed by up to three weeks. The company went from handling 50 online orders at a time more than 1,000, practically overnight, per a TODAY article. They even had to airlift candy from Sweden because they ran out.
While shipping and delivery options (think Grubhub, Uber Eats, etc.) are an option for New Yorkers, we recommend actually going into the shop itself for the full experience. In Red Hook especially, you'll enter through a roll-up pink door into a land that feels like Willy Wonka himself will pop out at any moment. And even if he doesn't, BonBon's candy concierges in their colorful aprons and formal uniforms are ready to help with candy recommendations and tips to make your BonBon experience magical.
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