Unwrap your imagination!
A whimsical wonderland offering an unparalleled selection of specialty candies and luxurious chocolates from around the world that make every visit a sweet experience.
SWEET TREATS
What’s in Store?
We are a unique, privately owned treat shop with hundreds of bins of bulk candy, several flavors of chocolate truffles, dozens of baskets of saltwater taffy choices, shelves with over a thousand lollipops, European and Japanese confections, novelty candies, 30 rotating flavors of fudge, peanut brittle, Turkish delight and everything in between, including gift boxes and gift cards! Von Schweets is truly a wonderland of treats from around the world! Please stop by for a sugar high!
A WORLD OF ADVENTURE
More Than Just Candy
In addition to the huge variety of candy you’ll find at Von Schweets, we also have a wall with over 700 Pez dispensers, dozens of artisan drink types, t-shirts, cinnamon sugar mini donuts, and many rotating flavors of hard ice cream!
VON SCHWEETS
Fun for All Ages!
The theme of the store was inspired by the 1971 movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, with all of the moving contraptions located throughout the factory. I located some old, very badly worn and discarded displays from an amusement park and after some very expensive shipping, they arrived and I was able to completely rebuild them, including new drive gears, motors, chains, sprockets, paint and heaps of TLC, all made possible by my years of experience with similar equipment in the garage door industry. I then used my electronics knowledge to add actuator buttons and built control boards with timers to make the displays interactive for customers. Come by and check out all the fun!
VIRTUAL VISIT
Take the 3D Tour
If you want to see what Von Schweets is all about before you come down, we’ve prepared a 3D virtual guide through each section of the store, so you can browse from the comfort of your own home before coming down and getting the real thing!
THE BEGINNING
Our Story
I ran a successful garage door business in Calgary, Alberta for many years. For a long time, I’d wanted to try something new and live somewhere else, but the security my job provided me, along with my friends and family in Calgary, made it hard to take the first step. Then, at the end of 2019, the world was hit by COVID-19, and while it certainly was a tragedy, in some ways it also created opportunity by severing some of the comfortable routines I had come to rely on. By early 2020, I found myself in the same situation as many entrepreneurs, where COVID-19 had all but destroyed my business. It seemed there was no better time to throw caution to the wind, move cities, and start something new. With the decision made, my wife and I came to Kelowna at the end of November 2021.
Dreams Become Reality
I have always loved visiting candy stores in the places we travel to and noted that Kelowna did not have one despite the tourist nature of the city. With no competition, I figured that it would be a good business venture if I could find a location in the tourist-heavy downtown area. After a cold call, a candy store pitch and several months of waiting for the previous tenant’s lease to end, I was finally able to take over an ideal space. As it was an older building, I ended up doing a full renovation, taking the space down to the studs, replacing the plumbing, electrical, floors and lighting, and transformed the space into Von Schweets Treat Shop – a name chosen from many conversations initially inspired by a line of dialogue in the movie Good Will Hunting. I researched and selected appropriate suppliers for each section of the store, ordered several metric tons of candy, created interactive displays, and with the help of my first two employees, loaded and moved everything around several times so it would be ready for our grand opening on July 1, 2023. The rest is history in the making!
TESTIMONIALS
Word on the Street
Shop Online
If you’re unable to make it down to the physical store, don’t despair! Come shop our online store to satisfy your sweet tooth any time, from anywhere.
