Campus Candy welcomes students

There’s no week like finals week, and while the Herman B Wells library provides a studious environment for some IU students to prepare for upcoming exams, for others, the library can become too overwhelming to focus.

Campus Candy, located on Kirkwood Avenue could be the reason to get away from the cluttered library this week and next.

Until the end of the semester, the candy store is offering free hot chocolate and coffee to students and the public.

“We want more people to study in the store,” said IU student David Block, director of PR and sponsorship for Excyte International, Campus Candy’s locally based marketing firm. “Hopefully enticing them with free hot chocolate and coffee will bring them in.”

Because of the cold weather, Kirkwood, one of the usual Bloomington attractions will become unusually bare.

“There’s not too many people out on Kirkwood during the winter,” said IU student Matt Strombelline, chief marketing officer of Excyte. “We want to get these students who have been at the library for 12 hours outside for some free hot chocolate and coffee.”

While the temperature in southern Indiana drops down to the teens, the idea of stopping in and having free hot chocolate or coffee could be a lifesaver.

“Outside it’s cold and freezing,” Block said. “The free hot chocolate and coffee would refresh people and keep them preoccupied as they check out the store.”
Many students might not think of a candy store when they think of the best study spots.

“We’ll have the Starbucks kind of feel with free Wi-Fi, which we hope brings people in to sit for a couple hours, study, eat some candy and our free drinks.”

Block said he was surprised Campus Candy has been becoming a popular place to study.

People setting foot in Campus Candy for the first time might
realize the environment of the candy store is not the typical cube with lines of registers.

“It has such a positive atmosphere,” Strombelline said. “The bright colors and amount of light in the store makes a very nice place for students to study as opposed to the blocked in, no windows, wooden chairs, hunched-over atmosphere in the library.”

Since Campus Candy is offering the hot chocolate and coffee free without a purchase, people at the store said they have high hopes for a decent turn out.

“We stocked up for sure,” Block said. “The goal is to make everyone happy and have a cool environment for students to study.”