New candy and coffee store opening near campus

If all the shops were full of candy bars and lollipops, what a wonderful downtown it would be.

A new candy store is moving in where La Bamba Mexican Restaurant used to be on Kirkwood Avenue and should be open either late March or early April.

Campus Candy, just above Finch's Brasserie, offers what co-owner Mark Tarnofsky said other shops don’t offer students at the IU campus.

“This is a very different kind of candy store,” he said. “This is a cool candy store. At Campus Candy, we ain’t just candy.”

Tarnofsky had the idea to open a candy store near campus after helping his daughter move in. After going out to dinner, she told him the only place to get a candy bar was CVS.

“There wasn’t a place where you could buy a candy bar,” he said. “Kids love candy. How can there not be a candy store in Bloomington?” he said.

Bloomington does have a candy shop, Inside Scoop in College Mall, but it’s not exactly within walking distance of campus.

Tarnofsky then called his business partner, Jason Tynan, who liked the idea of a candy store in a college town. Tarnofsky and Tynan worked together in apparel manufacturing from which Tynan retired. Tarnofsky works in the carwash industry as well.

“We picked Bloomington to open up our flagship store because we love IU,” Tarnofsky said. “The attitude here is unbelievable.”

The two owners said Campus Candy will offer more than 300 different types of candy, including candy bars, fat-free candy and sugar-free candy. The candy store will also offer healthy alternatives, such as trail mix and self-serve yogurts ranging from sweet to tart. In addition, they also plan to serve coffee.

“We’ll have the best coffee in town. We will serve Lavzza, which is Italian coffee,” Tarnofsky said. “Of course, we’ll have everything else, including hot chocolate.”

Campus Candy will offer its patrons free wi-fi, TVs, music and an atmosphere that Tarnofsky said was different from any of the other places that sell coffee.

“We want to make sure that students feel comfortable and welcome at Campus Candy,” Tarnofsky said. “The whole purpose of the store is to be unique. We want students to hang out here with no pressure, sit back and do homework.”

Tarnofsky and Tynan plan to open up other Campus Candy stores throughout college campuses around the country, specifically at Big Ten and Big East schools. Hours are not yet known, but the owners are willing to work with hours that seem more popular with students.

“You almost don’t know when you’re going to be open your first year in business,” Tynan said. “If there’s business to be done, we’ll be here.”

Talisha Coppock, executive director of Downtown Bloomington, Inc., said this is the first candy store that she can remember opening on Kirkwood.

“I’m really excited to see what they have,” she said. “I think it’s a really nice addition to the downtown.”