If you have a Grandpa Joe’s Candy Shop in your town, you might be tempted to think it’s a one-of-a-kind place. After all, it’s a fun place that doesn’t feel like a chain, right? It actually is a chain with locations around Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida and Minnesota.

I didn’t realize it when I was in the store but the company was born in Pittsburgh’s popular Strip District in 2012. I’m no aficionado but it’s the nicest of these stores I have seen so far.

Grandpa Joe’s is known for imported candy, for vintage candies from when you were a kid, for bulk candy, and for a wall of craft sodas in glass bottles – about 250 of them.

There’s novelty items like socks, games, toys and kitchen stuff. Plus, their $5 candy buffet is something that appeals to the kid in us all.

All the bright, happy colors and fun merchandising make it hard to pass up a treat here.

It can be kind of overwhelming but their Pittsburgh store is really well done. I ended up leaving with a puzzle and a fistful of Juicy Fruit Bubble Gum but completely forgot to circle back for a bottle of something good from the craft soda wall. I like to choose two bottles – one I know I like and one that’s new to me and I failed on both counts!

Who IS Grandpa Joe? If you ever saw the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, you might remember the grandfather who spent twenty years in bed before making a miraculous recovery for a visit to the chocolate factory.

That’s the namesake for this store!

Learn more and find a location near you by visiting their website!