please empty your brain below
You should read Private eye about these sort of stores. Do not know if these are the specific stores they write about but Private Eye has been reporting for a while about financial chicanery going on with related chains of sweet shops.

dg writes: See link in post (about souvenir shops, not sweet shops).

Tim Burns | 28.03.22 - 7:02 a.m. | #

Yeah they're dodgy as all hell. Not enough to cross legislation, just enough to keep the real owners in riches. Importing so much of one product and somehow dozens of different business names just so happen to spring up at the same time?

Liam | 28.03.22 - 7:10 a.m. | #

I only buy Mike and Ikes from these places if I do go to them. British sweets are better.

PVR | 28.03.22 - 7:11 a.m. | #

It is interesting though, back when there were legit companies like Cybercandy these things did cost that much as well (although it got a lot better over time) and of course you can buy pop tarts etc in Tesco et al now.

Kevin | 28.03.22 - 7:52 a.m. | #

Oxford Street has long welcomed questionable tenants. Remember those auction-styled shops where people would think they were buying bargain perfumes and hi-fi but instead paid £100 for a bin bag with bricks inside?

Will | 28.03.22 - 8:07 a.m. | #

Sponsored by a federation of private cosmetic dentists?

popartist | 28.03.22 - 8:34 a.m. | #

It's funny the level of pearl-clutching from local residents about pedestrianising the street and rerouting some buses, vs these less-than-quaint dodgy sweet shops sprouting up.

Ed | 28.03.22 - 8:36 a.m. | #

I remember the dodgy auctioneers, they also use to practice "false sales" to manage the mood of the onlookers, "selling" an attractive to a planted participant (of course the sale never really happens, the item is put out back for another time). Sometimes called a "hintern" auction.

I suspect the candy shops are offered "meanwhile" leases with low srcurity/short tenure at low rents.

Selling without clear price marking is something that trading standards should crack down on but they are short staffed and I suspect that it would be hard to recover any fines.

MilesT | 28.03.22 - 8:46 a.m. | #

I remember going into CyberCandy, looking at the prices and my eyebrows going up very high. But for there to be so many of them, well that does look very suspicious.

Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 28.03.22 - 9:22 a.m. | #

I work at the Tottenham Court Road end, and we now have 'FiestMart', selling Toys, 'Sport', Disposable Shisha (?), Toiletries, Vapes and... Candy. It's very depressing. But as your post suggests I can't really complain having worked on Oxford Street for four years and gone shopping there about three times in total...

Chris W | 28.03.22 - 9:38 a.m. | #

This is like one of those quizzes where you can work out your age by what dodgy shop you remember being on Oxford Street. For me it used to be golf shops with over large signs pointing towards them.

cjw714 | 28.03.22 - 9:40 a.m. | #

Having grown up with some American foods, I went to visit the shops late last year primarily for the Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies and Banana Marshmallow Pies (but none of them have Little Debbie, so I had to do with Moon Pies for the latter).

I admit feeling a bit out of place going inside, as they were mostly empty with me being the only customer. I just wanted to quickly look for what I wanted and leave (with a bag of mini chewy Chips Ahoy as a bonus).

I feel you regarding the cinnamon flavour Tic Tacs. I always find it strange they don't have that flavour in the UK, so I usually pick up some whenever I can.

Ell | 28.03.22 - 9:43 a.m. | #

The Post Office in Kingston’s Bentall Centre is effectively a convenience store with a Post Office counter at the back, which is a bit of a comedown for such a large town, but that’s progress. They sell Mike & Ike’s for £2.29, along with sundry other US candies. To be fair, there is a reasonable sized US community in these parts.
Kingston also has two money laundering Candy stores in prime locations with no visible means of support.

Philip | 28.03.22 - 9:47 a.m. | #

I went into one of these shops when I was looking for a 1kg bag of M&Ms as a present. The M&M store in Piccadilly sells them loose at an effective cost of about £18.00 per kilo, but a 1kg bag in the American Candy Shop was priced at £35.00

Stephen | 28.03.22 - 10:16 a.m. | #

This entire post (and comments) has left me feeling rather sad.
That feeling you have when you've had doubts for years but finally discover once and for all that Father Christmas isn't real. Even if you could never afford to shop in it, at least the illusion about our premiere shopping street was there - a once in your life, must-visit destination - if only to window shop.

Kind of makes you wonder what visitors from countries with higher standards make of it too.
Where there's money, there's disappointment!

Cornish Cockney | 28.03.22 - 10:20 a.m. | #

It is slightly odd that these things are allowed to persist. I assume they take the form of a blazingly obvious criminal enterprise for the same reason that Trump walks the earth glowing orange in lifts, topped off with that wig. And why Jimmy Saville roamed the wards in a silver tracksuit with cigar and exposed medallion. The sheer gaudy effrontery of it all seems somehow to deflect investigation.

jpmac | 28.03.22 - 10:29 a.m. | #

Oxford Street is quite depressing these days, with so many of its flagship stores closed, and the proliferation of dodgy sweet shops.

Mikey C | 28.03.22 - 11:02 a.m. | #

I don’t think Kingdom of Sweets is connected to the others - that’s why it comes across better and is the only one I’ve ever been in to browse.

The ones I don’t understand are the giant Sweets stalls that have appeared at London Railway termini, Victoria in particular stands out … I have never ever seen anyone buying sweets from these stands at the railway stations, how can they stay in business?

Ruth | 28.03.22 - 3:33 p.m. | #

If ever there was a post which could be headlined "I went there so you don't have to", this is the one. And the dodgy Oxford Street street trader I remember is the balloon seller who had a giant inflated balloon about 10 feet long on display but when you got home and blew up your purchase, it was about 10 inches long! My dad was furious.

south london lad | 28.03.22 - 4:07 p.m. | #

Echoing your wryly observed comment "these candy stores aren't aimed at you".

I'm another never-in-Oxford Street Londoner; My only question here, has Regent Street gone/started to go the same way?

Simeon B | 28.03.22 - 4:25 p.m. | #

Regent Street has still retained its upmarket shops. As it's part of the Crown Estate I think they're more selective of who they let in than Oxford Street.

Lumma | Homepage | 28.03.22 - 4:51 p.m. | #

I think some people are looking at Oxford Street with rose-tinted glasses. It has always had something dodgy going on. When I was a child it was the people selling fake perfumes out of milk crates.

Tom | 28.03.22 - 6:08 p.m. | #

An excellent post, but rather depressing. Yes, I recall the various dodgy shops 40 to 50 years back, particularly at the TCR end, but there was a fair length of street that seemed a lot less grotty.

If things are not changing very much after all, then I assume that we’re not too uncomfortably close to the end of our cushy western civilisation.
But, why do tourists want American candy in London?

Herbof | 28.03.22 - 8:04 p.m. | #

Definitely remember the golf sale signs, cjw714. Oxford St always seems like it has just enough brand stores to look legit but there's something moody under the surface.

Jayne | 28.03.22 - 8:06 p.m. | #

There have always been dodgy shops in Oxford Street - I remember there was one place which had an auction of its tat - but not to the same extent as now. That middle section has been decimated by the loss of Top Shop, House of Fraser and Debenhams, to go with the loss of stalwarts like BHS, Gap and HMV

Mikey C | 28.03.22 - 8:37 p.m. | #

Many moons ago there were shops claiming to be Railway Lost Property.

I never believed that all those items, often large and expensive, had been left on trains and never reclaimed!

Gerry | 28.03.22 - 9:08 p.m. | #

Oxford Street was never the same after the passing of Stanley Green aka ‘Protein Man’. I still have his booklet which cost 8p at the time. Gray’s Antique Market was also worth a visit when it still had some old Dinky Toy and model train dealers.

Jeremy D | 28.03.22 - 10:49 p.m. | #

I remember the golf shop. As I recall they used to employ someone to stand on the street holding a large sign pointing in the direction of said shop.

Adrian | 29.03.22 - 9:59 a.m. | #

Great post. Thank you. I always thought these places were shady, and now its confirmed.
The logical thing would be for a government to tighten up legislation to support HMRC and local councils revenue . . . but these tax laws no doubt benefit many other more powerful opearators. In fact, I suspect this ability to trade and not file accounts was designed to benefit many other types of crooked business - not documented here. Who makes the laws again? MPs. Are they easily persuaded in this area of passing dubious loose tax legislation? Yes! See, as noted many times, many copies of Private Eye ad nauseam . . .

Le Ver | 29.03.22 - 11:24 a.m. | #

Apparently squatting used to be a problem on oxford street, where an empty unit would be broken into and "left open" foe someone to fill with a van load of souvenirs / t shirts etc. by the time the wheels of justice turned they could have a month of trading, which can be a lot of money

i'm guessing that'snot what's going on here though.

Alistair Twin | 29.03.22 - 1:07 p.m. | #

Guess the target is Swedish tourists. We like american things, we pay by card and we think the exchange rate is 10, when in reality it is 12-13.

Fredrik S | 29.03.22 - 2:24 p.m. | #

By law, retailers should display the price, although there are many that don't or don't on everything. I assume that they gain more that way than what the fine costs:

I always assume that if a shop doesn't display prices that the items are either:
a) too expensive
b) they will charge you what they think they can get away with.
I generally avoid these places.

rogmi | 29.03.22 - 2:38 p.m. | #

Well, if cinnamon Tic Tac are discontinued, maybe Cinnamon Altoids (British but made for US market these days) or Cinnamon Lifesavers (like Polo, but in many more flavours) would do. Fruit flavour lifesavers are also good (like Fruit Polos which you don't see frequently anymore)

I have in the past eaten "Wint-o-Green" Lifesavers (a bit like eating Vicks rub and smells the same, an acquired test) but haven't had an opportunity to buy any recently at a price that I care to pay.

MilesT | 29.03.22 - 5:59 p.m. | #

Everything about these stores is awful in my view. The word candy, the colours, the lure of pure sugar and now you have revealed an even darker side. Oh dear. How does this happen?

Sally Hirst | 31.03.22 - 12:19 a.m. | #

After reading this. I just found an American candy store in the Berlin equivalent of the Oxford Street

Pita | 25.04.22 - 11:31 a.m. | #

Oh boy, this post has just been linked on Hacker News and Boing Boing, and my blog is lining up to have one of its visitor-iest days ever.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 25.04.22 - 1:19 p.m. | #

[latest MSN news]

RogerW | 10.06.22 - 4:47 p.m. | #

You mentioned American candy stores in London a while back and in today Daily Mail qn article has appeared about them being raided

Rachel | 15.06.22 - 1:53 p.m. | #

The BBC News web site has this to say today - Oxford Street: Counterfeit chocolate 'worth £100,000' seized. It's taken the authorities a while to catch-up with DG's exposé ;)

Kevin Too | 15.06.22 - 2:49 p.m. | #

Someone seems to have been reading your post and have decided to dig deeper 😉

Oxford Street's US-themed sweet shops to face stricter rules [BBC News]

Kevin Too | 21.09.22 - 2:11 p.m. | #

Nothing to do with me - I was by no means the first person to write about this.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 21.09.22 - 3:32 p.m. | #











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