Since arriving here, Julie has dreamed of a candy store as massive as Dubai's ambitions. Her dream seems obvious amongst Dubai's notorious renowned superlatives: the tallest building (Burj Dubai); the biggest man-made island (Palm Jumeirah), the largest mall in the world (Dubai Mall). So, it only makes sense that the largest candy store in the world would open across from the largest aquarium in the world that so happens to be situated inside the largest mall in the world and nestled beneath the tallest building in the world.
With the signs up since last spring, Julie and I and I had been waiting for Candylicious to open. Making (or being forced to make?) the prudent decision to open after Ramadan, Canylicious is now open in full force. Heading to the store for dessert, we were met with some initial crowd control. Learning a lesson from the Dubai Metro's opening fiascos, we were met with an orderly que and a list of the store's rules, all written cleverly with the occasional candy-related pun: "Don't talk too loudly, our candy is shy." "Our candy doesn't have to be crunched to be enjoyed." "Break any of the rules and you'll be sent to Mars" (as in the Mars chocolate bar). "No Photography" (there were no jokes about that rule). After our short wait, we entered and passed the sign that notified us that if we spent 1000 dirhams (nearly $300) we were entered in a special candy drawing.
I paused for a second, taking in the sight of the most candy that I have ever seen. The 10,000 square foot store was jam-packed with candy. The walls were lined with the range of candy dispensers from jelly beans to roasted and flavoured nuts. The insides were marked by one candy display leading to the next. The store was separated into unmarked but clearly identifiable sections: chocolate, chewy candy, gummies, lollipops, mints, M & Ms, and Hershey's. Like some liminal space, you passed to and from candy lands without any clear boundaries of where you were until you finally left the store. Like two adults in a kid's candy store, we ambled throughout.
Julie settled on some Jelly Bellys and I on a Hammond's twist lollipop. We steered clear of (Oprah's favorite) Garrett's popcorn on the western wall and the faux-Soda Shop in the eastern corner of the store. We steered clear of the few children that were actually in the store (all of whom seemed to asleep in strollers or already too pent up on sugar to enjoy the majesty of the store in the first place) and made our way to the cashier. Waiting in our second line, their mission statement was drapped behind six cash registers. Basically it said:
Candy makes people happy.
Their store has all the candy you could ever want.
Their store makes people happy.
And this is just the beginning. Candylicious is going to bring mega-candy stores to all the Gulf States! With a goal of making $10,000,000 in Dubai in the next year, they say its the recession-proof business.
So with my lollipop in hand, Julie and I continued our walkabout in the expanse that is Dubai Mall. Though I was not the only one carrying a lollipop, Julie teased me about my "swine flu receptacle" as we passed through the masses of Friday night mallgoers. A joke that becomes less and less funny as more than a few Sharjah schools have now been closed because of the virus.
