5 Display Tools for Old-Fashioned Candy Stores

If you’re thinking of opening an old-fashioned candy store, or you already manage an old-fashioned candy store but need some help giving your business a makeover, some of the first things you should think about are the kinds of display containers and fixtures you should use for your candy displays.

Below are five ideal display tools for old-fashioned candy stores to help you pick the tools that will work best for your store!

1. Wholesale Glass Jars and Glass Fish Bowls

Wholesale glass jars and glass fish bowls are the epitome of old-fashioned candy store displays. You can find these glass containers in a variety of sizes and styles, as well as with lids for keeping unwrapped candies wrapped and safe from dust and debris.

While wholesale glass jars and glass fish bowls are perfect for displaying candy in old-fashioned candy stores, broken glass is extremely dangerous so you’ll want to make sure you use them in low-traffic areas of your store or, at the very least, positioned on sturdy display racks.

2. Fixed and Rotating Countertop Racks and Floor Display Racks

If you manage a candy store, chances are not all of your displays are on countertops. This means you’ll other kinds of display tools (besides the glass jars and fish bowls) to hold your candy.

Fixed display racks designed for floors and countertops are ideal for displaying glass containers of candy. At the same time, rotating display racks are great for bags or boxes of candy you can hang from begs or stack on shelves.

3. Wooden Baskets and Wooden Display Racks

Wooden baskets and wooden display racks exude old-fashioned charm and are excellent alternatives for store owners who don’t want to use wire display racks like those found in convenience stores.

You can find wooden displays designed for countertop displays and floor displays, but because the wooden baskets generally don’t come with lids, these display tools are best suited for wrapped bulk candies like Atomic Fireballs, individual pieces of bubble gum, and gourmet chocolates.

4. Gumball Machines

Gumball machines are classic display tools for candy stores. You can find gumball machines with one head or numerous heads and in a variety of different styles. Choose classic styles with round or square heads or fun styles shaped like rocket ships or designed with clear stands to allow your customers to watch their gumballs traveling down to meet them!

Gumball machines are also quite versatile. You can find machines designed for countertop displays, or you can find them positioned on stands and ready for you to move anywhere in your candy store.

5. Dry Food Dispensers

Some unwrapped bulk candies – like Skittles, M&Ms, Runts, Mike & Ike, Good & Plenty, and Jelly Belly’s jelly beans – work well in more than just wholesale glass jars with lids. Because these candies are unwrapped, you can keep them fresh and safe from contamination when you store and display them in dry food dispensers.

You can find dry food dispensers designed to mount on your store’s wall or countertop, and they allow customers to select the amount of candies they want while keeping the rest secured inside.

Glass Jars and Fish Bowls Add Elegance to Your Displays

Plastic jars and plastic fish bowls are great ways to create various kinds of merchandise displays, but if you’re looking for a bit more charm and elegance, consider using wholesale glass jars and glass fish bowls.

These glass containers are available in several sizes and styles, which makes them ideal for any amount of display space you have to work with. Also, if your merchandise is unwrapped and edible – such as gumballs or ice cream sprinkles – you can find these containers with lids.

Below are three ideas to consider for using glass jars and glass fish bowls for creating numerous kinds of displays – no matter what kind of retail business or establishment you manage!

1. Create Special Toppings or Candy Displays

Maybe you’d like to create a charming “penny” candy display such as those typically found in old-fashioned candy stores. Or, perhaps you manage an ice cream parlor or yogurt shop and need to order wholesale containers to store and attractively display your sprinkles or toppings along your store’s countertop.

Whatever the case, wholesale glass jars and glass fish bowls are ideal containers for creating displays such as those you’d find in specialty candy shops, bakeries, ice cream parlors, and yogurt shops. Convenience store owners can even create countertop displays using these glass containers or place these containers on sturdy convenience store racks throughout their businesses – if traffic permits (see special note below).

2. Showcase Small Gifts, Souvenirs, or Hobby Items

Gift stores such as those you find in malls, hospitals, and hotels, souvenir shops like those at tourist and vacation locations, and stores that specialize in selling hobby and craft items can use these glass containers to display a multitude of items. For example, wholesale glass jars and glass fish bowls are elegant ways to showcase small gifts such as figurines, souvenir items such as seashells from the beach, or even thimbles, beads, and buttons.

For these kinds of displays, consider dedicating a large countertop where you can safely position the glass containers, or choose a few sturdy display racks, such as wire display racks, and position your displays throughout the store.

3. Store and Display Complimentary Items

Business in the travel and hospitality industry, such as hotels and motels, can use wholesale glass jars and glass fish bowls to add organization and charm to their usual bathroom displays of complimentary items like travel-sized soaps, shampoos, lotions, mouthwashes, and shower caps. These establishments can also use glass containers in the rooms to display other complimentary items like packets of coffee and related items like sugar, sweetener, creamer, and stir sticks.

At their checkout counters, many restaurants offer complimentary items such as toothpicks, breath mints, and matchbooks with the restaurant’s logo printed on them. If your countertop offers enough space, these glass containers are ideal for displaying such items.

Note: If you’re considering using wholesale glass jars or glass fish bowls for your displays, be sure to think about your store’s normal traffic. If a customer bumps into your display, glass containers are generally more easily broken than their plastic counterparts. Depending on your store’s usual volume of traffic, plastic jars and fish bowls might work better.

Using Plastic Fish Bowls in Your Convenience Store Display

Plastic fish bowls are classic display tools in all retail settings, and they’re especially useful in convenience stores.

Like their glass counterparts, plastic fish bowl containers are versatile and ideal for a variety of purposes; however, they’re more durable when it comes to withstanding the fast-paced, high-traffic environment of a convenience store. They’re also available in an assortment of sizes, making them perfect for everything from gumballs to small children’s toys!

Use Plastic Fish Bowls to Create Countertop Displays

Each display in a convenience store is important in its own right; without them, there would be no merchandise for the customers!

However, countertop displays are perhaps one of the most crucial kinds of displays in convenience stores. Countertop displays use a small space to showcase a vast array of merchandise just as a customer is getting ready to check out.

As you’re thinking about how to use these kinds of fish bowls in your countertop displays, consider these ideas:

• Plastic fish bowls are great for candy displays. Fill your bowls with anything from Tootsie Rolls to Jawbreakers!

• You can use these fish bowls to display small children’s toys like bouncy balls.

• Fill your fish bowls with small convenience items like travel-sized manicure sets, sewing kits, or eyeglass repair kits.

• Use your fish bowls to display common convenience items like lighters or matchbooks.

• Fish bowls are perfect for creating a display of souvenir items like key chains with your state’s logo.

Pair Plastic Fish Bowls with Wire Display Racks

Just as they work well for countertop displays, plastic fish bowls are ideal for use on wire display racks. Because wire display racks are available in many sizes and shapes, you can create larger displays and position them anywhere in your convenience store.

For example, you might want to create a display of fish bowls filled with wrapped gumballs near a larger candy display, or you might want to showcase travel-sized hygiene products near a shelf filled with full-sized bottles of shampoos, soaps, and lotions.

Use Plastic Fish Bowls in the Deli

Many convenience stores sell more than just fuel, quick snacks, and last minute items like full- or travel-sized hygiene products customers might have forgotten to pack for their trips or pick up while they were doing their regular shopping. Some convenience stores include deli-style areas where customers – whether traveling through or local to the town – can stop for a meal.

If your convenience store offers a deli-style area, you can use plastic fish bowls:

• On your deli’s countertop or on each table in the deli to collect tips from customers.

• Near the coffee machine or on each table in the deli to hold packets of sugar, creamer, and sweetener.

• On each table in the deli to hold packets of condiments such as ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise, as well as seasonings like sugar, salt, and pepper.

• On your deli’s countertop or on each individual table to offer customers after-dinner mints, toothpicks, or complimentary matchbooks.

Fish Bowls for Convenience Store Displays: Plastic or Glass?

Fish bowl containers are ideal for more than just providing a home for your pet fish! These versatile containers have been helping convenience store owners create perfect merchandise displays for many years.

Convenience store’s can use fish bowl containers to:

• Create countertop displays of edible merchandise like candy, or non-edible merchandise like ponytail holders, all-in-one pocket tools, key chains, or children’s toys like bouncy balls.

• Position your fish bowls on wire display racks and situate your displays throughout your convenience store.

• If your convenience store has a deli-style area, you can place fish bowls on the countertop or on each individual table to collect tips from patrons or displays packets of condiments, seasonings, coffee extras, breath mints, toothpicks, hand wipes, or complimentary matchbooks.

Both plastic and glass fish bowls work well for convenience store displays, but the kind of convenience store you operate will determine which material you should choose.

When are Plastic Fish Bowls Best for Convenience Store Displays?

Plastic fish bowls are usually always the best options for convenience stores that experience high volumes of fast-paced traffic.

Plastic is generally less likely to break if a customer should bump into the bowls in a countertop display or into the wire display rack holding the bowls.

When are Glass Fish Bowls Best for Convenience Store Displays?

Quite the opposite of plastic fish bowls, glass fish bowls work well for convenience stores that don’t experience high volumes of fast-paced traffic.

Generally, the less traffic a store experiences, the fewer chances there are for customers to bump into and break fish bowl displays.

Tips for Choosing Plastic or Glass Fish Bowls

If you’re still unsure about which fish bowls to use in your convenience store displays, consider these tips:

• If your store experiences a high number of customers each day and the environment is generally fast paced and hectic, consider plastic fish bowl containers.

• If your store operates at a slower pace, consider glass fish bowl containers. Slower-paced convenience stores present fewer opportunities for the fish bowls to break and create dangerous situations.

• In addition to the kind of traffic your store experiences, consider your store’s “feel.” If your store leans toward a particular theme or décor, chances are one or the other material – glass or plastic – will work best.

• Think about the kind of merchandise you plan to display in the fish bowls. If it’s merchandise adults are more likely to grab such as mini eyeglass repair kits or lighters, glass fish bowls might work; however, if it’s merchandise more likely to catch a child’s eye such as gumballs, candies, or bouncy balls, it might be best to choose plastic fish bowls.

Remember, when it comes to choosing fish bowls for your convenience store displays, you don’t have to choose just plastic or just glass. You can select a variety of fish bowls to use in different areas of your store. For example, if your store experiences a high volume of traffic on one area but a low volume in another, you might want to use plastic fish bowls where the most customers frequent, and glass fish bowls in the less busy areas.

5 Ways to Treat Your Customers with Jelly Bean Displays

Jelly beans, such as those manufactured by the well-known Jelly Belly Candy Company, are popular among a wide variety of customer bases and therefore make an excellent choice for candy displays in convenience stores, grocery stores, delis, bakeries, yogurt shops, ice cream parlors, and many other kinds of retail businesses.

Should you display your jelly beans on your store’s countertop? On a display rack that sits on the floor? What about your walls? Can jelly beans go there, too? As with other kinds of candies, jelly beans lend themselves to many different kinds of candy displays. Below are five of the most convenient and attractive ways to display your jelly beans. Choose the one – or two! – that best suit your store.

Plastic Containers, Glass Jars, and Fishbowls

Plastic containers, glass jars such as candy jars, and fishbowls (in both plastic and glass) are some of the most common display tools in most stores, and this is likely because these containers are durable, versatile, and reusable.

If you choose any of these kinds of containers for your jelly bean displays, make sure you choose containers with lids to keep your jelly beans fresh and safe from debris, as well as aluminum or plastic scoops so your customers can easily scoop out the number of jelly beans they want without touching any they don’t want – but others might!

Gravity Bins

You’re probably familiar with gravity bins; they’re the kinds of bins designed to be fastened to countertops, walls, or shelves and usually contain coffee beans, dry cereal, or small candies.

These bins are ideal for holding jelly beans as they save space, allow the customers to easily see what kinds of jelly beans are inside, and allow them to easily dispense the number of jelly beans they want.

Drawer Displays

Draw displays are quite convenient in that they protect your candies from the elements but they don’t require you to keep up with a lid.

Drawer display units, like plexi displays and acrylic dispensers, come in units comprised of several drawers that can hold various amounts of weight and can be paired with other units to create a jelly bean display sized exactly as big or small as you want it.

Scoop Bins

Scoop bins are similar to regular candy containers (like plastic containers, glass jars, and fishbowls) as well as drawer displays. You can find units comprised of several bins attached together, and each unit comes with a convenient attached scoop that will reach all the bins.

You can order scoop bins based on how much candy you plan to display in each bin, as each different kind of scoop bin will hold a certain weight of candy. If you plan to have a large jelly bean display, choose scoop bins that can hold a heavy weight of candy; likewise, if you expect your jelly bean display will be small, choose a scoop bin that will accommodate light weights.

Gumball Machines

Despite their name, gumball machines aren’t just for gumballs! You can put many different kinds of merchandise – edible and non-edible – in these machines, and that includes jelly beans.

3 Tips for Using Gumball Machines in Your Business

Gumball machines are extremely popular display tools for a number of businesses. Every establishment from convenience stores to hotels can use gumball machines to offer their customers extra sweet treats, snacks, or toys – all the while increasing sales.

1. Think about the Location of Your Gumball Machines

Gumball machines work well in the following locations:

• Just on the inside or outside of the store’s entryway. Because the merchandise – the gumballs, other treats, or small toys – are enclosed in the machine’s heads, there’s little chance a customer with sticky fingers can walk away without paying.

• At the ends of the store’s aisles. Placing the machines in high-traffic areas allows more customers to see them and maybe make a quick purchase while they’re already shopping.

• Near the store’s countertop and register. Situating your machines near the checkout puts the merchandise in front of customers – and gives them one last chance for a treat – before they leave.

2. Consider the Number of Heads for Your Gumball Machines

The “head” of a gumball machine is the clear round or square container at the top that holds the gumballs or other merchandise. Gumball displays are available with as few as one head and as many as eight heads.

As you’re considering the number of heads to include, consider the following factors:

• The different kinds of merchandise you want to display in your machines. If you only want to sell one kind of gumball – or, just gumballs, period – then a machine with one head will work for you. However, if you want to sell an assortment of gumballs or a variety of candies, treats, or small toys like bouncy balls, then you might want to select displays that offer several heads.

• The amount of traffic you expect your machines to see. If your store experiences a high volume of customers, chances are a display with several gumball heads will work best for you; but, if your store is small and doesn’t experience a high number of customers, you might want to use a display with just one, or a few, heads.

• The amount of space you have to work with. Obviously, you need to choose a gumball display that will fit in the space you’ve allotted for it. Storeowners with little space might want to choose machines with single heads situated on a skinny stand, while storeowners with lots of space might be more interested in larger gumball displays with multiple heads situated on a metal rack-style stand.

3. Have Fun with Your Gumball Machines!

Gone are the days of using only traditional gumball machines with round or square heads. These days, you can find gumball machines in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and styles!

Spice up your display with machines in fun shapes like rocket ships and with clear stands so customers can see their gumballs as they travel down to greet them! You can also fill your gumball machines with other kinds of merchandise – both edible and non-edible – such as pieces of candy, peanuts, trail mix, and bouncy balls.

3 Important Factors for Creating a Candy Display

Whether you manage a convenience store, candy shop, or bookstore, if you’re thinking of creating a candy display you probably have a few questions about how to get started.

What kinds of candies should you use? Should you order bulk wrapped candies or bulk wrapped candies? Where can you find bulk candy for wholesale prices? And how should you display all of this candy?

1. Consider Your Store and Its Customers

The kind of candy you display in your store should reflect both your store’s “atmosphere” as well as the kinds of customers you serve on a daily basis.

For example, if you manage a convenience store or gas station, you probably serve a variety of customers from all walks of life. This means your candy selection will need to reflect the tastes of each of those customers – or, at least, the bulk of those customers. Perhaps you’ll want to offer a selection of gourmet-style candies as well as a larger selection of popular and novelty candies like Jolly Ranchers, Jawbreakers, Runts, and an assortment of lollipops and suckers.

At the same time, if your store is a specialty shop of any sort, you’ll want your candy selection to reflect that. For example, candy stores that pay homage to candy shops of olden days might want to include classic kinds of candies like gumballs or “penny candies.” A shop that caters to a mature customer base, on the other hand, might want to focus more on gourmet chocolates.

2. Think about the Location of Your Candy Display

The location of the candy display is an especially important factor for storeowners who sell a variety of candies – and a variety of other kinds of merchandise – to consider.

For example, if your store sells merchandise geared toward children, such as toys, coloring books and crayons, and board games, it’s a good idea to situate a small display of your novelty or “more fun” candies – the kinds of candies that appeal to children – in these areas.

3. Compare the Best Candy Display Tools

Now that you know what kind of candy you want to sell, it’s time to think about the best way to display that candy – in other words, you need the display tools guaranteed to showcase your candy in the most attractive and convenient ways.

Some of the most popular display tools include:

• Colored and plastic containers.

• Glass and plastic fishbowl containers.

• Gumball machines.

• Wire display racks like convenience store racks. *

• Wooden display racks and wooden baskets. *

• Pegboard display racks. *

• Hanging shelf display racks. *

* Note that you can find a variety of display racks designed for countertop displays and floor displays.

Just as when you were choosing the kind of candy your store should sell, as you’re choosing your display racks you should consider your store’s atmosphere. For example, plastic containers and fishbowls and wire rack displays work great for all store types, but glass jars and fishbowls and wooden display racks and baskets add an extra elegance to your displays.

5 Ideas for Using Fishbowl Containers in Your Business

Fishbowls are extremely popular containers for a variety of businesses. They’re available in a variety of sizes for your merchandise needs and, depending on your business’s atmosphere, you can find plastic fishbowl containers for fast-paced areas and glass fishbowl containers for locations where you want to add an extra bit of charm.

And nearly every kind of business can use them. Fishbowls are ideal for everything from retails stores to amusement parks – and everything in between!

1. Use Fishbowl Containers to Create Candy Displays

Fishbowls are great ways to create displays of candy and other small edible kinds of merchandise in your store.

Consider using a few small fishbowls for a countertop display of candy or gumballs for your customers to see as they check out, or create larger floor displays using wire display racks (see below) so you can display even more merchandise in larger fishbowls.

2. Organize Trial- and Travel-Sized Items with Fishbowl Containers

As mentioned above, fishbowls are popular tools for creating candy displays, but they’re also ideal for displaying other kinds of non-edible merchandise. As is the case with creating displays of candy and other edible items, you might want to use wire display racks with your bowls (see below).

If your store sells trial-or travel-sized items such as hygiene products, eyeglass repair kits, or sewing kits, you can display these items in fishbowls. You can even create displays of other normally small kinds of merchandise like key chains, lighters, and small children’s toys.

3. Pair Fishbowl Containers with Wire Display Racks

Fishbowl containers work great with other tools such as wire display racks. These racks are available in versions designed for countertop displays and floor displays and help you create attractive and convenient displays that work best with the amount of space allotted for your fishbowl displays.

Wire display racks also allow you to make your fishbowl container displays mobile! For example, you can obtain rolling wire display racks that allow you to easily move your display racks anywhere in your store, including outside for sidewalk sale events.

4. Use Fishbowl Containers as Collection Containers

Fishbowls are great for more than just offering your customers a product; you can also use them to collect items from your customers such as tips, business cards, amusement park tickets, and prize tokens.

Be sure to choose the material that will work the safest for how you intend to use the container. For example, if you manage a restaurant or tavern and want to include a container on each table or in your bar area, you might want to use glass fishbowls. If you plan to use your containers in high-energy, high-traffic areas such as amusement parks or carnivals, consider using plastic fishbowls.

5. Hold Prizes in Fishbowl Containers – Even Fish!

Speaking of amusement parks and carnivals, fishbowls are great ways to hold prizes for patrons who win games and challenges! True to their name, fishbowls are excellent for holding fish you offer as prizes, but they’re also perfect for organizing small inanimate prizes for your patrons to choose from.

3 Tips for Using Wire Display Racks

Wire display racks are some of the most common display tools available to store and business owners. They’re generally lightweight, versatile, durable, and lend themselves to a wide variety of uses for an even wider variety of businesses.

Consider these kinds of stores and businesses that use wire display racks as you’re determining whether they’d be the right display tool for you:

• Convenience stores, gas stations, and grocery stores of both the “mom-and-pop” and national chain varieties.

• Specialty food shops like candy stores, yogurt shops, ice cream parlors, and bakeries.

• Specialty retail shops like accessories boutiques, toy stores, bookstores, gift shops, and hobby shops.

• Movie theaters and movie rental businesses.

• Travel and hospitality industry businesses like hotels and motels.

1. Use the Wire Rack Designed for Your Display Location

The two most popular places for displays in any kind of retail business are:

1. The countertops (which usually puts them close to the registers).
2. Somewhere on the business’s floor (generally at the ends of aisles, near deli-style areas, close to the countertops and registers, and sometime near the business’s entryways).
   

Wire display racks designed for countertop displays and near registers are great ways to make the most of your countertop space while providing your customers with an attractive, convenient selection of merchandise. You can place merchandise like bags of chips and trail mix directly on the rack’s shelves, or you can display edible merchandise like wrapped candies and gumballs or non-edible items like pens, key chains, and lighters in plastic containers situated on the rack’s shelves.

Wire display racks designed for floor displays are basically larger, more durable versions of the countertop display racks. You can use these racks for the same kinds of purposes, or you can display larger merchandise like liters and cases of soda.

2. Match Your Wire Display Racks with Your Permanent Displays

Because countertop displays tend to include add-on merchandise for customers to see as they’re checking out, this tip especially applies if you plan to use wire display racks designed for floor displays.

Chances are the bulk of your business’s merchandise sits on larger, more permanent shelves throughout your store. Wire display racks designed for floor use are great ways to compliment your permanent displays and offer extra convenience to your customers.

For example, if your store sells full-sized hygiene products like shampoo, soap, lotion, toothpaste, hairspray, and deodorant, you can use a wire rack to create a display of travel- or trial-sized hygiene products and position it close to your permanent shelf.

3. Create Mobile Displays with Rolling Wire Display Racks

To attract potential customers walking by, some store’s regularly showcase merchandise outside the establishment’s doors, while some business’s have occasional “sidewalk sales.”

Rolling wire display racks make it easy for storeowners to move their merchandise outside at the store’s opening and back inside once the store closes. For these purposes, you can find a wide variety of wire rack styles, from racks designed to hang apparel to racks designed to hold cases of soda.

Choosing Candy Jars: Plastic or Glass?

When it comes to display containers for any kind of retail store or restaurant, the options seem endless. Candy jars are especially popular choices because they are so versatile. They can hold a multitude of different kinds of merchandise – not just candy – and when they’re empty you can simply refill them or use them for another purpose entirely.

However, even candy jars themselves present a variety of options, and – aside from size – perhaps the most important you should consider is the material. Do you need plastic candy jars, or glass candy jars? Which would work best for your store?

Consider the Location of the Display

Whether you’re displaying candy or another kind of small snack in your candy jars, chances are high that you’ll situate your display either on your store’s countertop or on a wire display rack. You might even place your candy jars on a wire display rack designed for countertop displays!

Wherever you plan to place your candy jar display, consider the area’s traffic. If you want to create a countertop display, but your countertop and register areas tend to stay crowded, plastic candy jars are your best bet. If you want to create a display on a tall wire display rack and situate it somewhere else in your store, make sure that location doesn’t experience a high number of customers at any given point during the day before you stack glass candy jars on the shelves; otherwise, you might want to go with plastic containers instead.

Consider Your Store’s Traffic

Sometimes it doesn’t matter where you choose to place your candy jar display; if your store tends to experiences a high volume of traffic during most business hours, for safety purposes it might be best to use plastic candy jars instead of glass candy jars.

However, if your store generally experiences a low volume of traffic – or if most of your customers are adults and not excited children – glass candy jars might be the best display option for you.

Consider Your Store’s Theme or Décor

While the first two factors you should consider – your store’s traffic and the location of the display – are extremely important because they deal with safety issues, this third factor to consider – your store’s theme or décor – is important on an entirely different level.

Most traditional kinds of retail stores – such as convenience stores, gas stations, and grocery stores – will choose plastic candy jars for candy displays. This is for two main reasons: One, these are high-traffic kinds of stores and plastic is less likely to break and injure someone if it falls from the display or a customer bumps into it, and two, these kinds of stores generally have a laid back atmosphere without any special “theme” or décor.

However, specialty shops such as gourmet candy stores or even bakeries, yogurt shops, or ice cream parlors that sell candy or other small snacks that can fit in jars often want their displays to exude a bit more charm. Glass candy jars are perfect was to achieve such a result.

Using Fishbowl Containers as Display Tools

From convenience stores to gift shops, many different kinds of retail businesses can use fishbowl containers as display tools.

Just take a look at how versatile fishbowls are:

• You can find both plastic fishbowls and glass fishbowls. Choose the material that best suits your store’s environment and atmosphere. For example, if you manage a fast-paced convenience store or gas station, use plastic fishbowl containers for your displays. If your store offers a more laid back atmosphere and you want to add elegant charm to your displays, select glass fishbowl containers.

• Fishbowls come in a variety of sizes, so you can choose which ones will work best with the amount of space you have work with. For example, if you plan to create a countertop display with your fishbowls but don’t have much countertop space, choose a few small fishbowl containers or one or two larger versions.

• Other display tools, such as wire display racks, work well with fishbowls. You can find these racks big enough for floor displays and small enough for countertop displays. You can use any kind of fishbowl with these display racks as long as they securely sit on the racks, but because display racks slightly increase the chances of accidents (such as a customer bumping into them), plastic fishbowls might be your best option.

Use Fishbowl Containers to Create a Countertop Display

Like traditional square or round plastic containers, plastic fishbowl containers are ideal tools for creating countertop displays. These spheres are perfect for displaying small candies as well as non-edible items like key chains, matchbooks, and lighters.

The size and number of fishbowls you use for your display will depend on how much countertop space you have. Choose the material of your fishbowls – plastic or glass – based on the amount of traffic your countertop area experiences as well as the kind of visual appeal you’re trying to create. Plastic works best for countertop areas that see high volumes of traffic, while glass adds more elegance to your display.

And, keep in mind you can use wire display racks to make the most of your countertop space (see below).

Pair Fishbowl Containers with Floor Wire Display Racks

If your countertop doesn’t offer a lot of space, or you’d rather spread your fishbowl displays throughout your store, you can use wire display racks. Wire display racks are available in designs suitable for both countertop displays and floor displays.

Choose wire display racks designed for countertop displays if your countertop doesn’t offer much room, or you simply want to make the most of the room it does offer. These racks generally come with one to three shelves and are ideal for small fishbowls filled with small candies or mini add-on items.

Wire display racks designed for floor displays offer numerous shelves and are great for showcasing additional small items at the end of your aisles next to larger, similar displays. For example, you might want to create a display of travel-sized hygiene products next to your larger display of full-sized items.

Keep in mind that placing your fishbowls on wire display racks means they’re higher off the ground, so you might want to choose plastic fishbowls for these displays.

Create Countertop Displays with Fishbowl Containers

Countertop displays of add-on merchandise like candy, convenience items, and travel-sized hygiene products are essential for any store with a countertop. And, if your business has a countertop, you have a need for fishbowl container displays!

If you operate any of the following kinds of businesses, consider learning more about using fishbowl containers to create a countertop display:

• A convenience store or gas station.

• A small local grocery store or a large national chain super center.

• A bakery, yogurt shop, or ice cream parlor.

• A toy store.

• A bookstore.

• A hobby shop.

Fishbowl Containers Offer Versatility

Like traditional round or square display containers, fishbowls offer a great amount of versatility. Fishbowl containers:

• Are available in glass or plastic form, which means you can choose the best material for your store’s environment. Plastic fishbowls are more durable and therefore ideal for fast-paced stores with a lot of traffic, while glass fishbowls are a bit more elegant and offer extra visual appeal for more upscale businesses.

• Come in a variety of sizes, so you can select the perfect fishbowl for the kind of merchandise you want to display as well as the amount of countertop space you have to work with.

• Are ideal as stand-alone display tools or for paring with other display tools like wire display racks designed for countertop displays. Choose small containers to create a candy display on modest countertop space, large fishbowls for bigger merchandise items on ample countertop space, or make the most of your countertop space by stacking several fishbowls on a wire display rack or two.

Imagine Candy Displays Using Fishbowl Containers

Fishbowl containers are the perfect display tools for a wide variety of candies. You can use fishbowls to organize and display:

• Suckers and lollipops.

• Individual pieces of bubblegum or small packs of chewing gum.

• Small pieces of traditional kinds of hard candies in flavors like butterscotch, peppermint, strawberry, grape, lemon, or cherry.

• Fun candies like Jawbreakers, Tootsie Rolls, Jolly Ranchers, Laffy Taffy, Smarties.

Keep in mind that most fishbowls don’t come with lids, so it’s best to choose candies for your countertop fishbowl display that are complete with protective wrappers, such as wrapped candies purchased in bulk at wholesale prices.

Showcase Other Add-On Items with Fishbowl Containers

Unless you operate a candy store, chances are high that your business sells more than just candy or other small edible items. Good news – you can use fishbowl containers to display virtually any kind of merchandise small enough to fit inside them!

Depending on the kind of store you manage, consider these ideas:

• Use your fishbowls to display souvenir items such as small figurines bearing your state’s name or related logo for travelers or sentimental residents.

• Fill these containers with convenience items in high demand like matchbooks, lighters, eyeglass repair kits, all-in-one pocket tools, or travel-sized sewing kits.

• Display travel-sized hygiene products like small bottles of shampoo, conditioner, soap, toothpaste, lotion, and deodorant.

Does Your Business Use Fishbowl Containers?

If your business isn’t using fishbowl containers, it should be! These cousins of the traditional round plastic containers you often see in candy shops and convenience stores are certainly useful for doing more than just holding fish and offer a convenient, attractive display option for a variety of businesses.

Fishbowls come in both glass and plastic, so you can choose the material that best suits your business’s environment. For example, if you manage a gas station that sees a great deal of steady traffic, or you operate a candy store and excited children make up the bulk of your customer base, choose plastic fishbowl containers. If your establishment operates at a slower pace or you’re looking for a more elegant feel for your display, consider glass fishbowl containers.

You can also find fishbowls in a variety of sizes, which means no matter how much space you have to work with, there’s a fishbowl for you! For example, if you manage a store with little countertop space to spare, you can use one or two small fishbowls or just one large fishbowl. If you’re running a display at a trade show and have a fairly large table to work with, you can choose several large fishbowl containers.

Candy Stores and Other Retail Businesses

From candy stores and gift shops to convenience stores and gas stations, virtually every kind of retail business can use fishbowl containers. If you manage a:

• Candy store, bakery, yogurt shop, or ice cream parlor, you can use fishbowls to organize and display candy or yogurt or ice cream toppings.

• Convenience store or gas station, you can use these containers to hold candy like gumballs, Jawbreakers, or suckers, or non-edible items like matchbooks, key chains, or small all-in-one pocket tools.

• Gift shop, hobby shop, or bookstore, you can use containers shaped like fishbowls to display small kinds of merchandise like bookmarks, ink stamps, buttons, or travel sewing kits.

Restaurants and Other Food Industry Businesses

Restaurants and other food industry businesses like taverns or “bar and grill” establishments can use fishbowl containers to display food items like after dinner mints or small packets of seasonings and condiments.

They can also situate their fishbowls on each individual dinner table, on the countertop, or near the registers to collect tips from patrons.

Some restaurants hold drawings or raffles for free meals and these restaurants can use fishbowls to collect the business cards of customers who wish to enter.

Amusement Parks and Other Unconventional Businesses

Obviously, amusement parks, theme parks, and carnivals can use fishbowls to hold fish they offer as prizes, but these businesses often use these round plastic containers to collect tickets for rides or games or tokens the patrons have collected for prizes. Parks and carnivals also use clear fishbowls to display candies for sale or additional prize options like miniature figurines or small plush toys.

Other folks who can use fishbowls include entrepreneurs who attend trade shows, people in the fundraising business, and charities. These containers are great for displaying small merchandise items or free gifts, as well as collecting donations for charitable causes.

How Can You Use Fishbowl Containers in Your Business?

Long gone have been the days that clear fishbowl containers were intended solely for holding fish. These days, a number of businesses use fishbowls to display merchandise, collect tips, and overall make their customers’ experiences more convenient.

These tasks become even easier thanks to the variety of sizes and styles. Depending on the purpose of your fishbowl you can find small, medium, and large sizes, and depending on your business’s environment you can choose plastic or glass fishbowls.

Two kinds of businesses that can especially use fishbowl containers are retails stores and restaurants.

Retail Stores Use Fishbowl Containers as Display Tools

When you think of display containers for your retail store, traditional round or square containers made of glass or plastic are probably the first kinds that come to your mind; however, fishbowl containers are extremely popular choices and offer as much durability and versatility as common plastic containers.

Convenience stores, gas stations, grocery stores, hobby shops, gift shops, bookstores – these are all examples of retail businesses that can use fishbowl containers to better organize and display their merchandise. If you operate any of these kinds of stores, think about the following ways you can use these containers:

• Arrange fishbowl containers on your store’s countertop. Countertop displays are crucial for any business with a countertop. Fishbowl containers are available in several sizes; choose the one that best fits the countertop space you have to work with and create a display to showcase some of your store’s best add-on merchandise.

• Situate your fishbowl containers on wire display racks. Like fishbowls, wire display racks come in a variety of styles and sizes and you can find them designed for both floor and countertop display purposes. Choose fishbowl containers in sizes appropriate for your wire display racks, or order wire display racks to in sizes that will suit your fishbowls.

Restaurants Use Fishbowl Containers to Increase Customer Convenience

Fishbowl containers are excellent tools for storing and displaying merchandise, but they’re also great ways to increase your customers’ convenience if you operate any kind of restaurant, tavern, or “bar and grill” establishment.

If you manage one of these kinds of businesses, consider the following ideas for using fishbowl containers to increase your customers’ convenience:

• Situate a medium-sized, round fishbowl container at individual tables, along your countertop, or near your register to collect tips from customers. Many kinds of restaurants accept tips from customers, and these containers offer an easier and safer alternative to leaving tips on the tables or countertops.

• Use small fishbowls to hold additional meal items such as seasonings, condiments, and after dinner mints. Packets of salt, pepper, sugar, sweetener, ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise fit perfectly inside small fishbowl containers and placing them on each of your restaurant’s tables helps ensure customers always have what they need.

• Use small or medium-sized fishbowls to hold non-edible items such as complimentary matchbooks with your restaurant’s logo or small drawing pads and crayons to keep children occupied while they wait for their food.

Ordering Wholesale Bulk Candies for Your Candy Store

If you operate a candy store or are planning on opening a candy store, chances are high that you’re in the market for wholesale bulk candies. But how do you get started? Where do you begin?

Below are several of the most popular kinds of bulk candies you can find at wholesale prices. Consider your candy store and the kinds of customers you expect to do business with as you select the best candies for your business.

Wrapped and Unwrapped Candies

When ordering wholesale bulk candies for your candy store, you’ll find that wrapped candies and unwrapped candies offer the widest variety of selections. You can find these candies in traditional popular types like gumballs, Jolly Ranchers, Skittles, M&Ms, and Jawbreakers, or more novelty or specialty types like saltwater taffy.

You have a variety of choices when it comes to displaying your bulk wrapped and unwrapped candies. Colored acrylic bins and clear plastic containers positioned on wire display racks throughout your store or on your countertop are convenient ways to display your candy for your customers. You can even situate the containers as stand-alone countertop displays without the racks.

Keep in mind that if you’re display bulk unwrapped candies, you need a little extra protection to keep them fresh and safe from debris. Make sure you look at containers with lids as well as pair aluminum or plastic scoops with the displays.

Gourmet Candies

Some children do enjoy candies like chocolate-covered peanuts and pretzels, but if your store does most of its business with a mature customer base, gourmet candies are definitely the way to go. Chocolate-covered coffee and espresso beans, for example, aren’t the best choices for kids; many adults, however, love them!

You can display your bulk wholesale gourmet candies in many of the same ways you’d display more traditional candies; however, because these candies are gourmet, you might want to consider trading the plastic containers in for glass jars, and – depending on the style of your store – switching wire display racks for stylish wooden baskets and shelves.

Pre-Filled Candy Displays

Is your store just starting out? Or, do you not have enough time to create your own candy displays? Maybe you should think about pre-filled candy displays.

Pre-filled candy displays are available stocked with a wide variety of candies and styles perfect for every kind of business. Consider these popular pre-filled candy display options:

• Gumball Machines: Gumball machines are classic pre-filled candy displays and ideal for every business from convenience stores and grocery stores to gift shops and bookstores; naturally, they’re perfect for candy stores! You can find these machines designed to stand on your floor or sit on your countertop, and they’re available with as few as one head and as many as eight heads. Gumball machines are also available in a wide variety of styles. For example, you can find them in fun designs like rocket ships and with clear stands so your customers can see their gumballs whizzing down to meet them!

• Lollipop Displays: Lollipop displays generally come in “tree” designs for floor displays or plastic or cardboard containers for countertop displays. You can find these displays pre-filled with an assortment of lollipops or suckers, and once they’re empty you can refill them with new suckers or reuse the containers for an entirely different purpose.

• Wall, Floor, and Countertop Displays: You can find pre-filled candy displays made of plastic containers situated on wire display racks or wooden baskets situated on wooden trees or shelves and designed to sit on your store’s floor, hang on a wall, or sit on a countertop. Note that you can also find pre-filled candy floor displays large enough to act as entire aisles in your store.

Starting a Bakery? Don't Forget These Important Containers!

It might seem like there are as many acrylic and plastic containers for holding your bakery’s baked goods as there are baked goods in your bakery! Because of this, choosing the best containers for your bakery might feel a bit overwhelming.

Don’t worry. Below are brief descriptions of some of the most common kinds of containers designed for use in bakeries. Consider the kinds of baked goods your bakery sells to help you choose the best containers for displaying those goods.

Bagel Bins

Bagel bins do exactly what their name suggests. They organize, store, and display your store’s bagels.

However, bagel bins can display much more than just bagels. Depending on the kind of baked goods your bakery sells, you can use bagel bins to hold cupcakes, cookies, pieces of cake, brownies, dinner rolls, and croissants in your bagel bins.

Bread Boxes

Like bagel bins, bread boxes function exactly the way their name implies. They organize, store, and display your store’s breads. You can find acrylic roll top bread boxes with as few as one shelf, or horizontal or vertical acrylic bread boxes with several shelves.

Also like bagel bins, bread boxes are multifunctional. You don’t have to display just bread in a bread box; you might want to showcase bagels, muffins, cupcakes, or cookies in these boxes, too.

Bakery Cabinets

Think of bakery cabinets as the larger, more involved cousins of bagel bins and bread boxes.

Bakery cabinets are generally made of acrylic and large enough to hold either many more baked good items than bagel bins or bread boxes, or larger baked good items like entire loafs of bread. You can find bakery cabinets with as few as one or two cabinets or as many as six or more cabinets.

Pie Cases

If your bakery sells pies, you must have a pie case or two to display them!

Pie cases are generally sturdy acrylic display containers with several shelves for holding the pies. Pie cases have rear hinged doors so you can easily remove the pies your customers want to purchase, and they’re often in hexagon shapes designed to best fit the pies. Countertops are the best places to situate pie cases because they offer you the easiest access when you need to put pies in them – and take them out!

Gravity Bins

Because much of their baked goods consist of breakfast items, bakeries often sell other breakfast items like cereal. If this sounds like your bakery, you must look into containers that will properly organize, store, and display those items.

Cereals, for example, are best contained in gravity bins. These bins are designed to either hang on your wall or mount to your countertop, and they allow your customers to dispense as much cereal as they want while keeping the rest of the product fresh and safe from contamination.

Plexi Displays

Maybe you plan to sell more than just baked goods in your bakery, such as unwrapped candies. Or, perhaps you plan to offer your customers the freedom of choosing their own cupcake toppings and decorations.

Whatever the case, consider plexi displays with enough drawers to hold all the extra items you need to display.

Traditional Plastic Containers

Traditional plastic containers are perfect for every kind of business – bakeries included!

These containers come in a variety of shapes, sizes and styles, and for food cleanliness and customer convenience, you can find handgrip containers, containers with lids, and containers with aluminum and plastic scoops.

Pre-Filled Candy Displays: Learn Your Options

Pre-filled candy displays are perfect for every kind of retail business. Candy stores, gas stations, convenience stores, bookstores, gift shops, even hotels and motels – they’re all perfect places to situate a pre-filled candy display. Just as importantly, pre-filled candy displays are perfect for:

• New stores that need help stocking before Opening Day.

• Established stores that want to add candy to their merchandise selection but don’t have the time to hand select each and every piece and display.

If your store falls into one of those categories, it’s time to take a look at your pre-filled candy display options.

Gumball Machines

A gumball machine is probably one of the most popular candy displays around. These machines are perfect for nearly every kind of business – from convenience stores and grocery stores to actual candy stores and other specialty shops – and they’re available in an assortment of sizes and styles.

The kind of machine you choose will depending on where you want to situate it and how much space you have to work with. You can find single-head gumball machines designed to sit on your countertop or stand on the floor, or you can find elaborate displays with as many as eight heads. You can even find gumball machines in fun styles like rocket ships and designed to show the gumballs rolling down the escape!

Lollipop Displays

A lollipop display is another popular kind of candy display for various businesses.

Traditional lollipop trees work best for stores that have room for floor displays, but you can find lollipop displays made of an assortment of sucker styles and flavors situated within decorated cardboard containers or acrylic bins. These kinds of lollipop displays are best for stores that plan to situate the displays on their countertops.

Plastic Containers

Plastic containers pre-filled with candy are excellent choices if you simply want to display candy on your countertop as add-on merchandise at checkout. You can find these plastic containers pre-filled with an assortment of candies including gumballs, Jawbreakers, Tootsie Rolls, Sugar Babies, and Strawberry Bon Bons.

Keep in mind that once you’ve sold all the candy in your pre-filled plastic candy containers, you can either refill them with more candy to sell or use them for another purpose entirely!

Wall, Floor, and Countertop Displays

These kinds of pre-filled candy displays take plastic containers to the next level. They are generally comprised of plastic candy containers or buckets filled with popular candies and situated on display racks small enough to showcase on your countertop, large enough to use as floor displays, or designed to hang as a wall display.

If your store has enough room, you might want to consider even larger floor candy displays. These displays are tall enough and wide enough to act as focal points on your store’s floor or even entire aisles.

Wooden Baskets and Racks

Wooden baskets and racks pre-filled with candies are the more rustic versions of traditional candy displays made of plastic containers and wire racks. Most often, you can find these wooden baskets and racks designed as “tree” displays sized for both floor and countertop displays, or floor displays of wooden racks that hold the baskets on shelves.

5 Tips for Shopping for Candy Store Supplies

So, you’re thinking of opening a candy store. Or, maybe you already have a candy store, but you need some ideas for giving the place a facelift. Whether you’ve yet to schedule the Grand Opening or you just want to freshen up your existing establishment, below are five tips to help you shop for supplies best suited for your candy store.

Tip #1: Know Your Store

First, you need to get to know your candy store – or the candy store you want to operate. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What kind of candy store do you want to operate? Will it have a particular theme, color scheme, or overall “feel”?

• How much space will you have to work with inside your store? Will there be room outside the building for outdoor displays?

• Will you candy store have any special features? For example, will your business have an area set aside where customers can sit and snack on the candy they’ve just purchased?

Tip #2: Know Your Customers

Second, you need to know what kind of customers you plan to cater to. Candy stores generally appeal to two main kinds of customers:

• Children and families who prefer “fun” kinds of candies.

• Adults who have more mature tastes in candies.

Tip #3: Choose the Candy You Want to Sell

In order to choose the kind of candy you want to sell in your store, you need to look again at the first and second tips. Consider your candy store’s “theme” as well as the kind of customer base you plan to cater to.

• If you plan to operate a fun, fast-paced candy store that does most of its business with children and families, consider selling popular traditional candies like gumballs, Jawbreakers, lollipops, Jelly Beans, and Tootsie Rolls.

• If you plan to operate a more mature establishment that caters mostly to adults, consider candies like gourmet chocolates, including chocolate-covered nuts, pretzels, cherries, and coffee and espresso beans.

Tip #4: Think About the Best Candy Displays

Now that you’re familiar with your candy store, the kinds of customers you plan to have, and the types of candies you want to sell, you’re ready to choose the candy displays that will best suit your business.

Most all candy stores can use display items like glass and plastic containers, colored acrylic bins, and floor and countertop display racks; however, depending on your candy store’s theme and the kinds of customers you expect, you can choose versions of these display tools that best suit your store.

For example, if your store will do business mostly with children and families, colored acrylic containers and bright display racks for your floors and countertop might be best. You can even add additional fun display items like gumball machines and lollipop trees.

Gumball machines and lollipop displays might also work for older customers, but if you plan to have a more mature customer base, you might want to choose wooden baskets and display racks and glass candy jars in lieu of plastic and wire.

Tip #5: Shop for True Wholesale Candy Prices

You’re familiar with your store, your customers, and the kind of candies you want to sell and how you want to display those candies. Now it’s time to make sure you stock your store with those candies at true wholesale prices.

As you're shopping for wholesale candy, make sure you compare the prices of several different candy retailers. Some companies will claim to offer wholesale prices on bulk candies, but further shopping around will prove these prices aren’t true wholesale at all.

Where Can You Use Lollipop Displays?

There is certainly no shortage of lollipop enthusiasts – customers young and old love these sweet treats! No matter what kind of business you operate, situating a lollipop display is a great way to put this favored candy in the limelight and increase your sales.

Can Your Business Use Lollipop Displays?

In a nutshell – yes! Whether you’re in the business of selling candy, clothing, toys, or hospitality services, your establishment can use lollipop displays. These displays are great for encouraging add-on items at checkout counters or simply putting a smile on a child’s face. Consider these options for using lollipop displays in your business:

• Candy Stores: It goes without saying that no candy store is complete without a lollipop display!

• Convenience Stores/Gas Stations: These establishments cater to travelers and on-the-go shoppers who need quick snacks for themselves and their children.

• Toy Stores: Children love lollipops, so it only makes sense to include lollipop trees as part of your merchandise selection.

• Bookstores: Bookstores often sell small edible items near their registers, and lollipops are definitely easy snacks for your customers to maneuver while they’re reading the books they just purchased.

• Restaurants: Restaurants might want to situate a lollipop display near their checkout registers for families with children or adults who like low-calorie sweet treats after dinner.

• Hotels/Motels: The lobbies and dining areas of hotels and motels are convenient, visible places to display lollipops for sale.

• Gift Shops: Many gift shops include small sweet treats as add-on options for gift purchases.

Which Lollipop Display Is Best for Your Business?

Consider the kind of business you operate and the amount of space you have to work with as you’re thinking about which lollipop display is best for your business.

Establishments that have plenty of floor space to work with can use tall, lollipop trees. These convenient, space-saving trees can come with as many as a hundred or more lollipops and are great for businesses that wish to situate their displays in high-traffic areas like hotel lobbies, children’s toy aisles, and close to checkout registers.

Lollipop displays also come in compact countertop displays. You can find

• Colored or clear plastic container displays filled with an assortment of suckers.

• Decorated cardboard lollipop displays filled with specialized or novelty lollipops.

Keep in mind that you can easily refill these displays once they’re empty, or use the containers for another purpose altogether. You can also find additional pre-filled candy containers to complement your countertop lollipop displays. Not only is this an excellent way to offer your customers add-on merchandise to purchase, but it also offers additional options for customers who might not like candy with sticks like lollipops and suckers.

For example, if your lollipop display consists of Jawbreaker suckers, you might want to also add a wooden basket display filled with regular Jawbreakers. Similarly, if your lollipop display offers suckers with bubblegum in the center, you can situate it close to a round plastic container filled with gumballs.

Use the Most Popular Plastic Containers in Your Store

If you’re considering using plastic containers in your store for displaying edible items like candy or trail mix or non-edible merchandise like key chains or matchbooks, get familiar with some of the most popular kinds of containers – not because you want to use what everyone else is using, but because everyone else is using them for a reason! Knowing about these containers will help you choose which ones will work best for the merchandise you want to display as well as the space you have to work with.

Round and Fish Bowl

The words “round” and “fish bowl” are often used to describe the same kind of sphere-shaped plastic container, and these containers are perhaps the most common – and popular – of them all.

Keep in mind that the uses for fish bowl and round plastic containers go beyond the traditional retail business. For example, if you manage a pet store, you can use these containers to hold actual fish, as well as merchandise like collars designed for small dogs, sample packets of wipes designed to clean your pet when you’re on the go, and even special treats. These round or fish bowl containers are also great for amusement parks, where they can hold fish offered as prizes, ticket stubs, tokens, and other small trinkets for sale or to win.

Plastic containers shaped like spheres aren’t the best choices for saving space, so make sure you choose containers in sizes suitable for the space you have to work with. For example, if you have limited countertop space, it might work best if you only use one large round container or two or three small fish bowl containers.

Square and Rectangle

People sometimes use the words “square” and “rectangle” interchangeably to describe a plastic container with four flat sides, but generally a container with four flat sides of even widths and heights are better described as a square plastic container, while a container with four flat sides with uneven widths and heights are better described as rectangle plastic containers.

In square and rectangle containers, you can display anything that’s small enough to fit inside; however, as is the case with round containers, it’s best to choose items that aren’t extremely differently shaped than the containers themselves. For example, gumballs wouldn’t be the best merchandise choice for square plastic containers.

One of the best features of square and rectangle containers is their space-saving ability. You can place these containers side-by-side and back-to-back with virtually no room in between. Storeowners who have little display rack or countertop space to work with greatly benefit from containers shaped like squares and rectangles.

Hexagon

If you could blend round and square containers, hexagon plastic containers would be the result. Hexagon containers both save and take up space; they’re similar to sphere containers in that they can’t sit exactly side-by side, but they’re also similar to square plastic containers because you can position them back-to-back.

And, just like you’d expect from the offspring of round and square containers, these containers are ideal for nearly every kind of merchandise small enough to fit in them.

Versatile Plastic Containers Work for Nearly Every Business

If your business sells any kind of small merchandise – whether it’s edible items like candy or non-edible items like key chains – you should be aware of how using plastic containers can help you store, organize, and display your merchandise.

These versatile containers come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors to help you best use the space you have to work with and add visual appeal to your display, and they can be paired with accessories to increase your customers’ convenience.

Shape

Some of the most popular shapes of plastic containers include round, "fish bowl," square, rectangular, and hexagon. You can also find holiday-inspired shapes like a Santa Claus boot and Christmas tree.

The container shape you choose will depend on the kind of merchandise you plan to display as well as the kind of space you have to work with. For example, if you plan to display round gumballs, a fish bowl or round plastic container will work best. If you have a small countertop or very little space on your display rack, a tall, square plastic container will make the most of the space.

Size

Plastic containers are available in sizes small enough to act as tip jars and large enough to hold merchandise like an assortment of jumbo gumballs or small plush children’s toys.

Choose the size of your containers based on what you plan to hold in them and how much space your countertop or display rack offers. For example, if you plan to display unwrapped candies on a small countertop, you might want to choose one large plastic container or two or three small containers. If you have plenty of countertop space, or an entire display rack, then you might want to use a few large containers or many small containers.

Color

Clear plastic containers are probably the most popular kind. Not only do they "match" every business décor, but because they’re see-through, they also offer extra convenience to both you and your customers.

However, colored acrylic bins have much to recommend them, too. You can find these containers in colors like pink, blue, green, yellow, and orange and the colors are transparent enough so that you and your customers can easily see the merchandise inside. Many businesses can have fun with colored plastic containers, choosing colors that match their stores’ themes or coordinate with the kind of merchandise displayed in the containers. For example, candy store owners might choose to display Atomic Fireballs in red plastic containers.

Accessories

Accessories for plastic containers are designed to increase the convenience of the containers and the cleanliness of the merchandise inside.

If you plan to display loose merchandise in your containers, such as cereal, or you know you or your customers will need to lift the containers for any reason, then you should choose handgrip containers. At the same time, if you know you’re going to display unprotected edible items, such as unwrapped candies like gumballs or other unwrapped foods like peanuts, you should choose plastic containers with lids and make sure your customers have access to plastic or aluminum scoops.

Unique Ways to Display Your Candy

Whether you operate a convenience store, grocery store, and gift shop, if you’re in the business of selling any amount of candy you also should be in the business of display that candy in creative, unique ways.

Candy is popular worldwide, and customers generally don’t need any persuasion when it comes to purchasing it; however, visually appealing candy displays are more likely to catch your customers’ attention and increase your candy sales.

Create Candy Displays with Plastic Containers or Glass Jars

Unless your sweet and sour merchandise only consists of candy bars or bags of candy, you need containers for your candy displays. Probably the two most popular kinds of candy containers are plastic containers and glass jars.

Both are available in various sizes and shapes and are reusable, and each offer their own special perks:

• Plastic containers are extremely durable and available in an assortment of colors, which makes creating a unique candy display even easier.

• Glass containers are more easily breakable, but offer an elegant “feel” to your candy display that plastic containers generally can’t accomplish.

Keep in mind that if you’re planning to display unwrapped candies, you should look for food grade candy containers with scoops customers can use to access the candy and lids to keep the candy clean in between customers.

Discover the Versatility of Candy Display Racks

Candy display racks fit no one mold – there are numerous kinds for you to choose from!

• Think about the amount of space your store allows you to work with, as well as the amount of candy you want to display, and then choose floor racks, countertop racks, or a mix of both styles.

• Consider your store’s theme or overall look. Wire display racks, for example, are available in classic colors like white, black, and red. And, if you’re using accessories like plastic containers on your display racks, clear will match every theme while colored containers will add visual appeal.

• Determine your store’s environment. Fast-paced businesses like convenience stores and gas stations often choose sturdy, wire display racks for showcasing candy, while slower-paced, charming stores like specialty shops often like using wooden display racks.

Have Fun with Pre-Filled Candy Displays

If you don’t think you’re creative enough to arrange your own attractive candy displays, or you simply just don’t have the time, maybe you should take a look at pre-filled candy displays. These kinds of displays are available in a wide variety of designs and perfect for everything from gumballs and lollipops to bags of candy and candy bars.

You can find gumball machines, lollipop trees or racks, and wire displays all pre-filled with candy and perfect for floor or countertop displays. Also available are sizeable candy displays designed to line your store’s walls, act as focal points in the center of your store, or even function as aisles.

Some of these pre-filled candy displays also break away from the norm and are available in unique designs. For example, you can find gumball machines resembling rocket ships and acrylic lollipop displays in interesting shapes.

Equipment for Starting a Candy Store

If you’re thinking of opening a candy store, there are quite a few pieces of equipment you’ll need to display your candy in the most convenient, attractive, and effective ways.

Plastic Containers

If you really think about it, it might actually be impossible – or, at least, extremely difficult – to operate a candy store without plastic containers. From wrapped candies like Tootsie Rolls and Jawbreakers to unwrapped candies like gumballs and Lemon Drops, these containers are perfect for virtually every kind of candy.

Not only are plastic containers are quite durable, which makes them ideal for fast-paced stores that often have children as customers, but they’re also rather versatile. You can:

• Find clear plastic containers and colored acrylic containers to match your candy store’s décor and create attractive candy displays.

• Choose from an assortment of sizes to work best with the candy you want to sell and the space you have to work with.

• Add accessories like lids and candy scoops to keep your candy safe and clean.

• Refill your plastic containers with candy once they’re empty, or use them for an entirely different purpose like organizing merchandise in your stockroom or displaying non-edible items your candy store might also sell.

Glass Containers

Glass containers function in many of the same ways as plastic containers do. You can find them in a variety of shapes and sizes, and pair them with useful accessories like lids and scoops.

However, when you compare glass candy containers with plastic ones, you’ll find two major differences:

• Glass containers are heavier and more easily broken, so they’re not always the best choices for candy stores that usually keep a regular stream of young children coming in and out of the store.

• Glass containers add an elegant charm that plastic containers can’t always achieve, so they’re great for displaying gourmet candies in more upscale establishments.

Display Racks

Unless you plan to display all your candy within plastic or glass containers situated on your store’s countertop, you’re going to need a few display racks.

Candy store display racks are available in numerous styles, shapes, and sizes, the most common and versatile of which include wire display racks and wooden display racks designed for either floor or countertop displays. Unsurprisingly, wooden display racks work best with wooden baskets, and you can use wire display racks to showcase bags of candy that are able to stand alone or fill plastic containers with pieces of candy and then arrange the containers on the wire rack’s shelves.

Pre-Filled Candy Displays

Pre-filled candy displays are great for candy stores that are just getting started as well as those that stay quite busy and can’t always find the time to restock their displays. Look for pre-filled candy displays in the following forms:

• Gumball machines designed for floor displays or countertop displays with as few as one head or as many as eight heads. You can also find gumball machines filled with other kinds of loose, unwrapped candies like Skittles and M&Ms.

• Lollipop trees tall enough to display on your floor or compact enough to situate on your countertop.

• Candy filled display racks complete with traditional, novelty, or gourmet kinds of candies. You can find these racks small enough for your countertop, tall enough to act as floor displays, and large enough to essentially act as aisles in your candy store.

Find the Perfect Wire Display Rack for Your Store

Standard wire display racks are some of the most common racks stores and businesses use to display their merchandise. Regardless of what kind of store or business you operate, chances are you can use wire display racks to showcase an assortment of items.

Not convinced? Consider these examples of establishments that regularly utilize these display racks:

• Convenience stores and gas stations often use wire racks to display snack items and cases or liter bottles of soda as well as nonfood items like magazines.

• Grocery stores can use wire racks in similar ways, and might even use them to separate, organize, and display product specials or items on sale.

• Specialty shops, like gift shops, hobby shops, and even bakeries, ice cream parlors, and yogurt shops often use these racks to display clear plastic containers filled with small merchandise or toppings for treats.

• Hotels and motels use floor and countertop wire racks to offer guests local and national newspapers, magazines, and travel guides.

• Toy stores can use these racks to display stuffed animals, toys sealed in lightweight boxes or plastic containers filled with small toys and figurines.

• Bookstores commonly display lightweight merchandise like bookmarks, calendars, and magazines on these racks.

Find Wire Display Racks in an Assortment of Classic Colors

Every store or business has its own color scheme, theme, or “décor”, and wire display racks are available in an assortment of colors to help owners match their racks to the rest of their displays. Some of the most popular colors for these racks include classic black, white, and red. While owners can find these display racks in a variety of other bright, fun colors, these classic colors often offer storeowners the most convenient options and attractive selections that are sure to match their stores’ color scheme or overall décor.

Look for Wire Display Racks an a Variety of Sizes

The available sizes of wire display racks only add to their convenience, and perhaps the two most common sizes of these display racks are those designed for floor displays and countertop displays.

• Floor Racks: Floor model wire racks are excellent tools for better organizing your store’s merchandise as well as making the most of the floor space you have to work with. Many businesses use these floor wire racks to display everything from food items like large bags of chips and liters or cases of soda to nonfood items like magazines and hygiene products.

• Countertop Racks: You can find the same kinds of wire racks designed for floor displays in smaller versions perfect for countertop displays. These display racks are designed to function just like their floor counterparts do, offering wire shelf space and room for displaying merchandise like small bags of snacks or candy in small plastic containers, and are ideal for stores or businesses that either have ample countertop space to work with, or want to make the most of the limited space their countertops offer.

As you can see, no matter how much space your store offers, there’s a wire rack sized perfectly for your display needs!

Don’t Miss Out On Lucrative Novelty Filled Racks

Display racks that are pre-filled with merchandise are excellent ideas for nearly every kind of store. Gas stations, convenience stores, grocery stores, toy stores, specialty shops, bookstores, and gift shops – they can all use pre-filled display racks of some sort. These kinds of racks are especially useful to stores that are just opening up and need starter racks and displays to help them stock their countertops, floors, and walls until they get on their feet.

While display racks that are pre-filled with merchandise such as candy tend to work well in any kind of store, other kinds of pre-filled racks – such as those filled with novelty items – usually work best in stores that sell similar kinds of items. For example, it’s common to find pre-filled candy displays in movie rental stores because many people snack while they watch movies; however, it’s not common to find novelty filled racks in movie rental stores because not many people want to play with toys while they’re watching films.

Because most racks filled with novelty items include toys, it’s wise to have these racks on display in stores where children and there parents are likely to be customers. If you manage any of the following kinds of stores, you should consider adding novelty filled racks to your merchandise displays:

• Toy Stores: Racks filled with novelty toys are great for encourage add-on items at checkout.

• Grocery Stores: Many grocery stores include novelty racks near their checkout aisles where children are likely to ask their parents for a toy.

• Convenience Stores and Gas Stations: Ever traveled with a child? Novelty toys are great ways to keep them entertained during long trips.

What Merchandise Do Novelty Filled Racks Include?

Novelty filled racks can include a wide assortment of novelty items. Probably the most popular kinds of items included in pre-filled novelty racks are novelty toys. Such toys might include:

• Spheres like Neutron Lite Up Balls, Critter Balls, Puffer Balls, and Horriballs.

• Stretchy (and stress relieving!) toys like Blob Frogs and Moody Faces.

• Creepy, crawly towys like Ginormous Worms, Stretchy Centipedes, Rainbow Worms.

Where’s the Best Location to Place a Novelty Filled Rack?

As is the case with candy filled display racks, novelty filled display racks are available in a variety of models. You can generally find racks designed to work as countertop displays, floor displays, and even wall displays. Where you place your rack of novelty merchandise largely depends on the amount of you have to work with within your store.

Be careful not to set up a display rack in an area that’s already congested with merchandise or too small to accommodate both another merchandise rack and your customers.

Of course, as you're considering where you should situate these racks, keep in mind that these kinds of novelty toys are most popular among children. If your store caters to a number of age groups, it’s probably best to place your novelty filled racks in sections of your store where children are mostly likely going to visit. Such areas might include toy aisles, bookshelves that feature children’s books, and checkout aisles.

Storeowners: Make Your Job Easier with Candy Filled Display Racks

If you’ve been in the retail business for any significant amount of time, it probably comes as no surprise to you that candy is a big selling item for more than just convenience stores. Various kinds of businesses – from gas stations and grocery stores to gift shops and movie rental stores – sell candy.

If you’re in the retail business but not yet selling candy in your store, or you’re getting ready to open a store and need a little help getting stocked, consider purchasing a few candy filled display racks. From popular and novelty candy like Junior Mints, Whoppers, Air Heads, and Ring Pops, Bottle Pops, and Wax Bottles to gourmet types of candy like chocolate truffles, these pre-filled racks are available in a wide enough variety of candy to ensure you please every customer!

Types of Candy

You can find display racks already filled with a wide assortment of candy! Consider pre-filled candy display racks filled with:

• Common popular candy items like Pixie Sticks, Jolly Ranchers, Fun Dip, and Pez.

• Novelty candy items like Ring Pops, Push Pops, Bottle Pops, and Wax Bottles.

• Gourmet candy like chocolate truffles.

Of course, the kind of candy you choose should reflect your usual customers’ tastes. If your customer base is made up mostly of families with children, you’ll probably do better with popular and novelty candy. However, if your customer base includes a more mature crowd, or is in the business of selling upscale items, try out chocolate truffle filled racks.

Location, Location, Location!

Candy filled display racks are available in an assortment of convenient designs, so it won’t be difficult to find one that best fits where in your store you want to place it.

As you determine the best locations for your candy filled display racks, think about the size of your store. Do you have limited space to work with? If so, you might want to use pre-filled candy displays small enough for your store’s countertops. Do you have a bit more legroom? You might want to consider tall, floor displays to situate close to your register, near your entryway, and throughout the aisles.

Also think about the areas in your store that experience a lot of traffic. For example, if you manage a movie rental business and want to include a pre-filled candy display rack in your store’s aisle, it might make more sense to situate it near the section of new movie releases than near the section of foreign language documentaries. Chances are, more people are checking out the new movie releases.

On the other hand, if you manage a gift shop, you’ll want to be careful to not to place your candy filled display near any areas with fragile items on displace – especially if those areas are high traffic areas. While it’s important to situate your merchandise in places where customers can see it, it’s more important to make sure you aren’t inconveniencing your customers or endangering any of the rest of your merchandise.

Creating Product Displays for Your Hotel

When you think of product displays, such as the ones created using acrylic bins, plastic containers, and display racks, you probably think of them in retail stores where a customer’s main goal is to purchase an item.

However, hotels and motels are also flooding with places where product displays are useful! For example, hotels can use these bins, containers, and racks to:

• Showcase items like candy and other snacks as well as traveling literature in the lobby area.

• Keep food clean and sanitary in the dining area.

• Better organize and display complimentary hygiene items in the hotel’s rooms.

Below are some easy ways to create product displays throughout your hotel and increase convenience for your guests.

Lobby

Traditional convenience store racks (or c-store racks) with built-in shelves are great for organizing and displaying items in your hotel’s lobby. You can use these racks to showcase:

• Local, regional, and national newspapers and magazines.

• Local city and state maps (hotels situated in popular tourist areas often include maps of surrounding cities and states).

• Brochures highlighting area entertainment, recreation, and dining attractions.

Plus, in addition to placing gumball machines in your lobby, you can also think about using acrylic bins and plastic containers to create snack table or countertop displays of candy or other snack items for your guests.

Dining Area

You already know your hotel needs food grade acrylic containers in its kitchen, but have you given any thought to the dining area?

For example, if your hotel offers a continental breakfast, you can use containers such as bagel bins to keep breakfast items like bagels, donuts, muffins, and biscuits fresh and safe from debris. Acrylic dry food dispensers, such as the models designed to mount to a wall or on a snack countertop, are great space savers and keep clean such foods as dry cereal.

Don’t forget that you can use many of these same containers during other meals your hotel might offer. Dinner extras like rolls and baked deserts like brownies and cupcakes all need somewhere safe and clean to wait for your guests, after all!

Plastic containers are also great tools for storing and displaying nonfood items your customers will need during meals, such as:

• Packets of seasonings and condiments.

• Drinking cups, lids, and straws.

• Packets of plastic utensils or napkins rolled with metal silverware.

You can use small square plastic containers for organizing and displaying condiments and seasonings, and acrylic cup displays work best for holding utensils.

Rooms

Hotels offer their guests a wide variety of complimentary convenience items, and it should come as no surprise that small, clear plastic containers are great for organizing and offering these items to your guests.

Convenience items you can display in your hotel rooms include:

• Mini bars of face and body soap.

• Small bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, shaving cream, and lotion.

• Disposable toothbrushes and small tubes of toothpaste.

• Grooming tools like disposable razors and small plastic combs.

How Can Your Store Use Plastic Containers?

Plastic containers are ideal for organizing, storing, and displaying an assortment of merchandise types and nearly every kind of store – from convenience stores and grocery stores to bookstores and gift shops – can use these containers.

Answering the following questions will help you determine how your store can best use plastic containers for storage and display purposes.

Does Your Store Have Ample Countertop Space?

If your store has a countertop, take a look at the amount of space you have to work with on top.

Storeowners with large countertops to work with generally use this space to create convenient and visually appealing countertop displays with plastic containers. With plenty of countertop space to work with, the list of display types you can create is nearly endless. You can create fun displays of colored acrylic containers filled with food-related items like candy, breath mints, and bubblegum, or you can arrange a number of containers on your countertop to display nonfood items like small children’s toys, souvenir items like key chains, and convenience items like lighters.

However, if you don’t have much available countertop space to work with, you might still have enough room for one or two small plastic containers filled with add-on items. Depending on the kind of store you run, these add-on items might include small kinds of merchandise such as candy, key chains, or bookmarks.

Does Your Store Use Display Racks?

If you use display racks anywhere in your store – such as near the countertop and register, throughout the aisles, or close to the entryway – chances are you can increase the number of items you display on these racks by placing them in plastic containers.

Obviously, you can situate stand-alone plastic containers on racks with built-in shelves; however, you also have options if you use pegboard racks. Pegboard displays are designed to accommodate acrylic buckets and bins with pegs that fasten them in place. These kinds of displays are great for organizing and displaying a specialty shop’s hobby and craft items like beads and buttons, as well as an accessory boutique’s costume jewelry pieces like rings and hair accessories.

Keep in mind that small display racks are ideal for countertop displays, too. Regardless of your countertop’s size, these racks can help you make the most of the space you have.

Does Your Store Sell Any Kind of Food Items?

The phrase “food items” includes many different kinds of merchandise.

For example, your store might not sell meal items, but it might sell candy, in which case you need plastic containers of various sizes to organize and display the different kinds of candy. Your store might be a deli or bakery, and you need food grade acrylic containers with lids to store and display sandwich toppings or bagels, donuts, brownies, or cupcakes. You might manage an ice cream parlor or yogurt shop and need acrylic bins with handles or scoops for your toppings.

Simply consider the kinds of food items your store sells to determine the kind of plastic containers that will best do the job.

Using Plastic Containers in Your Restaurant

You might think plastic containers are only for businesses that sell non-edible items customers can access themselves, but this simply isn’t the case.

Restaurants of all sorts depend on acrylic containers for a number of food and nonfood storage and display purposes, and three of the most common areas where restaurants can use these containers are the kitchen, the dining room, and the register and checkout area.

Your Restaurant’s Kitchen

The most common kinds of containers you’ll need in your restaurant’s kitchen are food grade acrylic containers. Think of “food grade acrylic containers” as an all-encompassing name for containers designed to keep food fresh, clean, and safe for consumption. Most food grade containers come with attached lids or lids designed to snap or spin, and many times you need to pair these containers with accessories like aluminum or plastic food scoops.

The kind of food grade containers you choose for your restaurant’s kitchen basically depends on the kind of food and food preparation goes on in the kitchen. You might need bins with lids, dispensers designed to mount on the wall, or a combination of both styles.

Your Restaurant’s Dining Area

You can use plastic containers in your restaurant’s dining area in numerous ways. For example, if your restaurant is one of those that keeps its tables covered in paper for children to draw and color on, you can use acrylic containers to hold the crayons. If your restaurant serves coffee or tea, you can use small plastic containers to hold packets of sugar and sweetener and stir sticks. Of course, if your restaurant is a buffet or offers any kind of additional meal item outside of the kitchen, you’ll need food grade plastic containers to hold and display your these food items.

Keep in mind that if your restaurant is more of a fast food or deli-style establishment, you can use these containers to hold additional items customers will need during their meals such as:

• Edible items like packets of condiments like ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise, as well as seasonings like salt, pepper, and sugar.

• Non-edible items like straws, coffee stir sticks, cups, lids, napkins, and hand wipes.

Your Restaurant’s Register and Checkout

Just because your customers are getting ready to checkout doesn’t mean your need for acrylic containers is over. You can use plastic containers near your register and checkout area in a variety of ways!

Depending on the kind of restaurant you own, you might want to use these containers to:

• Display additional food or other related items like breath mints, lollipops, bubblegum, or even toothpicks.

• Act as tip jars or places for professionals to drop their business cards for any promotional drawings your restaurant holds.

• Display non-edible merchandise like matchbooks or key chains with the restaurant’s logo.

Remember, you can easily use colored acrylic containers near the register and checkout areas if you’d like. Think about your restaurant’s theme or color scheme and have fun with your plastic container displays in these areas!

Plastic Containers: Choosing the Best for Your Business

Plastic containers are some of the most common tools businesses use for their merchandise and storage needs, and nearly every kind of business can use them! Consider these examples:

• Retail Stores: Most kinds of retail stores can use plastic containers to store, organize, and display both edible and non-edible kinds of merchandise. These stores include everything from convenience stores and gas stations to bookstores and gift shops.

• Restaurants: All restaurants can use food grade acrylic containers in their kitchens, and depending on the kind of restaurant you own you can use traditional round and square plastic containers up front for holding everything from dining utensils and napkins to breath mints and tooth picks.

• Amusement Parks: Amusement parks, theme parks, and carnivals can use acrylic containers to hold tickets and tokens, small prizes, and candy.

• Hotels and Motels: Not only can hotels and motels use food grade acrylic containers in their kitchens and dining areas, but they can also use regular acrylic containers in their lobbies for holding complimentary items like breath mints or bubble gum.

Now that you know how plastic containers can benefit your business, it’s time to figure out which kind of container you need. In order to do that, you have to first think about two factors: the kind of merchandise your store sells and the amount of space you have to work with inside your store.

Consider Your Merchandise

The first thing to consider as you’re thinking about your store’s merchandise is its size. Do you plan to store and display large items or small items? Maybe a mix of various sizes? For all storage and display needs, you need appropriately sized plastic containers.

The second thing to consider as you’re thinking about your store’s merchandise is whether it’s edible or non-edible. For edible items, choose food grade acrylic containers with accessories like lids, handles, and aluminum or plastic scoops. You can find these kinds of plastic containers designed to stand alone on countertops, work with other containers on display racks, and even hang on walls. For non-edible items, you can use more traditional plastic containers, such as round or square containers without lids.

Consider Your Space

You might know exactly the kind of merchandise you plan to display and exactly the kind of plastic containers you need, but everything hinges on whether you have enough space for your plans. Therefore, as you’re determining the kinds of containers that will work best with your merchandise, also consider the kinds of containers that will work best with the space you have.

If you want to create a countertop display, make sure you choose plastic containers small enough to fit on your store’s countertop but large enough to allow your customers easy access to the merchandise. If you plan to place your containers on display racks throughout your business, make sure you choose containers appropriately sized for the racks you already have – or order racks that will both meet your store’s space needs as well as your container display needs.

Display Racks: Convenience Is Key

Display racks are convenient tools for a variety of businesses, including:

• Gas stations and other kinds of convenience stores.
• Restaurants, cafeterias, and specialty food shops.
• Bookstores, movie theaters, and movie rentals.
• Hotels, motels, and other travel industry businesses.
  

Every business needs to display its merchandise is organized, attractive, and convenient ways. One of the best ways to do this is to use racks designed to display merchandise on the floor or countertops. So, it only makes sense that the key to choosing the best display racks for your business is to choose what will offer the most organization, visual appeal, and convenience to your customers.

Choose the Best Display Rack

There are various kinds of display racks – from pegboard racks to common convenience store racks – and while each one works to display merchandise, each one also works a bit differently from the next. Keep in mind you can also find racks designed specifically for countertop display (which work great for small stores that need to make the most of the space they have!) as well as floor racks of various heights and widths.

Be sure to take your time considering the kind of merchandise you want to showcase and browsing each kind of display rack to determine which one will work best for you.

Choose the Best Accessories

Once you know what kind of display racks you want to use, it’s time to think about the accessories you’ll need.

Unless you plan to use a more traditional convenience store rack (also known as a c-store) rack, which generally has a number of built-in shelves for you to work with, chances are you’re going to need accessories like pegs, trays, and small plastic containers and bins to hold your merchandise. If you’re using pegboard displays, also be aware of the extensions you can add to make these displays taller and create more room for more merchandise.

While they’re not necessary tools for actually showcasing your merchandise, header sign holders are excellent ways to clearly label the merchandise on a certain rack, note the price, or announce a particular promotion. These header sign holders are generally available in clear and a number of sizes and shapes, like half-circles and rectangles, so choose the holders that will best fit your display rack.

Choose the Best Location

Naturally, you need to place your racks in convenient locations throughout your store. This might mean organizing the racks close to other displays of similar items or rearranging displays that hold merchandise for sale so they’re near high-traffic areas in your store. However, this always means making sure your racks are positioned in ways so that your customers can conveniently access the merchandise.

Note that in addition to stationary display racks, you can also choose racks that revolve so your customers can spin them around to see the merchandise on each side. These revolving racks are ideal for displaying merchandise in stores with limited space where the racks need to stand close to a wall or on top of countertops.

Choosing Accessories for Your Display Racks

If you manage any kind of retail business or are just thinking about opening a retail business you’re probably already well aware of how useful – and most times necessary – display racks are.

Display racks – such as those found in convenience stores, gas stations, grocery stores, and even retail chains where food items aren’t sold – are available in a wide variety of sizes and types and are designed to hold and display an even wider variety of merchandise. You can find racks designed for floor displays as well as racks that are small enough for countertop or other table displays.

Because of their versatility and the convenience they offer, it’s pretty safe to say display racks are crucial items when it comes to showcasing your store’s merchandise.

However, the process is a bit more involved than just ordering a few display racks for your store. Depending on the kind of rack you want and the kinds of merchandise you plan to display, you also need to order accessories.

Trays

Trays are common accessories for display tools like pegboard racks and slatwall panels. These trays are available in numerous sizes and colors and are designed to fit in the rack’s pegs. Depending on the size of the merchandise you want to display, you can situate these trays as close together or as far apart as necessary.

Containers

If you’re using pegboard racks with acrylic trays, you don’t have to haphazardly scatter your merchandise on those trays. If you purchase trays for your pegboard rack, you can also purchase acrylic or plastic containers or bins to place on top of them. Trays are available in many sizes, as are plastic containers, so it’s easy to find containers that will sit neatly on top of your trays.

Plastic containers are available in many shapes, sizes, and colors, and they also come in handy in places other than your pegboard racks. You might want to use these containers with regular convenience store racks, such as those that have built-in shelves, or you might want to create a countertop displays using the containers.

Hooks

Wire or plastic hooks are another kind of common accessory for pegboard racks, but you can also use them with slatwall panels. If you want to hang merchandise from your display rack, hooks are necessary accessories.

Extensions

Extensions help you increase the amount of space you have to work with regarding your display rack. When you attach an extension to the top of a pegboard rack, for example, you can gain as many as twelve or more inches of display space. Extensions are especially helpful for stores that often change their displays around but don’t want to purchase – or don’t have the space to store – many different sizes of racks.

Sign Holders

True to their name, sign holders hold the signs you want to place on top of your display racks. So customers can easily read your signs, clear is the best option for sign holders. You can find sign holders in a variety of shapes and sizes to best fit your rack, but rectangle and half-circle shapes are probably the most common variety.

Colorful Ideas for Neon Pegboard Displays

If you think your store display options are limited to plain white or clear convenience store-style racks, think again.

Neon pegboard racks are quite adaptable for displaying an assortment of merchandise types in various locations throughout your store. You can find these racks in numerous colors (such as classic clear, black or white as well as bright blue, pink, purple, green, yellow, and orange), which will help you add visual appeal to your display. And, because these racks are also available in both floor and countertop display models of various heights and widths, they make it easy for you to accommodate the amount of space you have to work with and most kinds of small merchandise you want to display.

Neon Pegboard Floor Racks and Countertop Displays

When it comes to neon pegboard displays, versatility is the word! You can find these displays in both floor rack and countertop rack models, making it easy for you to choose the rack that not only works the best with the space you have to work with within your store, but also the model that will organize and display your merchandise in ways that offer the most convenience to your customers.

Of course, neon pegboard racks do more than just sit there, look pretty, and display your merchandise. You can find:

• Revolving or Spinning Racks: Pegboard racks that revolve or spin work extremely well for stores that have limited floor space (such as those that require you to place the racks near the store’s walls or corners), as well as atop countertops where customers can’t move themselves to view the merchandise hanging on each side of the rack.

• Racks of Various Heights and Widths: Whether you need floor racks or countertop racks, you can find them in a variety of heights and widths. If you want to create a floor display for an ample quantity of merchandise, choose a wide pegboard floor rack. If you’re creating a countertop display where space is limited, choose a tall pegboard countertop rack so you can include more items without taking up as much countertop space.

Accessories for Your Store’s Neon Pegboard Displays

Neon pegboard racks generally aren’t functional “as is”; you’ll need a few accessories before you can start using them.

• Hooks: If you want to display merchandise designed to hang, you’ll need hooks for your rack display. You can find these in wire or plastic.

• Trays and Cups: Plastic and acrylic trays and cups are available in various widths and depths and are ideal for displaying items that aren’t designed to hang.

• Extensions: Store displays often change, and sometimes this means the amount of merchandise in a display increases or decreases. Thanks to extensions, you don’t have to use a different pegboard rack every time you want to switch up your display.

• Header Sign Holders: These holders help you display signs – such as those announcing a price or a certain item promotion – on top of your pegboard rack. Sign holders are generally available in clear and in rectangle or half-circle shapes.

Convenience Store Racks: Where Else Can You Use Them?

Despite their name, convenience store racks or, c-store racks – which are generally the tall floor display racks you see in businesses like gas stations and other convenience stores – are actually ideal tools for displaying both food and nonfood items in numerous retail establishments.

Convenience Store Racks Work For Many Businesses

Simply put, you don’t have to manage a gas station or any other type of convenience store in order to need a c-store rack or two. These racks are helpful in a variety of retail settings, making it easier for storeowners to organize and display merchandise and convenient for customers to view and select the items they need. Consider these examples of how convenience store racks can benefit your business:

• Gift Shops and Other Specialty Shops: Gift shops and specialty shops can use these display racks to showcase nonfood merchandise like collectible figurines, stuffed toys, and craft items as well as any food products they sell such as gourmet candy.

• Bookstores: To display their books, magazines, and videos, bookstores generally use large shelves built into their walls or lined up as aisles throughout the store, but they can use c-store racks to display items like stationary sets, calendars, and gift sets. Also, some bookstores provide areas where customers can read the books they’ve purchased, and sometimes these areas include quick snacks. These bookstores can use convenience store racks to display food items like candies and bottled soda or water.

• Pharmacies/Drug Stores: Pharmacies have never been just places for people to fill prescriptions. These kinds of businesses sell an assortment of items and can use convenience store racks to display hygiene and other personal products like shampoos, soaps, lotions, and grooming kits; medical supplies such as diabetes testing supplies, blood pressure cuffs and monitoring supplies, and post-surgery products; and even food items like bags of chips, candy bars, bubblegum, and cases of soda.

• Hotels/Motels: C-store racks are great for organizing and displaying food items in the snack or dining areas, but they’re also useful for holding items hotel and motel guests often expect like magazines and newspapers. And, because many hotel and motel patrons are traveling through areas they’re not familiar with, you can use these display racks to hold convenience items like travel guides and brochures and local area and state maps.

• Movie Theaters: You probably can’t think about visiting a movie theater without also thinking about the delicious aroma of buttery popcorn! While they keep their popcorn fresh and hot in a popcorn machine, movie theaters can use convenience store racks to display other snacks like boxes and bags of candies such as Mike & Ike, Sugar Babies, Hot Tamales, M&Ms, and Skittles. Keep in mind that c-store racks are also great for movie rental businesses. They can hold items like snacks as well as help owners create displays for discount DVDs and videocassettes.

Take a look around your business and consider the kinds of items you sell. You’ll most likely find that your business could benefit from a convenience store rack or two!

Hey, Store Owners: Candy Isn’t Just for Kids Anymore

Because candy is so popular, a number of retail businesses such as convenience stores, gas stations, and grocery stores include candy displays on their countertops or on display racks situated throughout their stores. Even establishments that aren’t generally in the business of selling food products, like hotels, bookstores, and gift shops, will create candy displays to offer customers add-on merchandise as they’re shopping or checking out.

Most of these establishments – especially gas stations, convenience stores, and grocery stores – sell mainstream candies like Atomic Fireballs, Good & Plenty, Skittles, Jolly Ranchers, and Mike & Ike. Chances are, you’ve never been to one of these kinds of stores and not seen some kind of candy display that included M&Ms, Laffy Taffy, Sprees, or Runts. This is due to the wide variety of customers these businesses deal with on a daily basis. These kinds of candies generally appeal to the masses.

While these common candies certainly have something to offer (they wouldn’t be so popular if they didn’t, after all), sometimes businesses cater to customers who aren’t fans of candies like Tootsie Rolls, Lemonheads, and Bit-O-Honey. Businesses that attract customers with more mature tastes in candy can still benefit from having candy displays; they just need to use candies that appeal more to these kinds of customers. Such candies include gourmet chocolates.

Consider Gourmet Chocolates

European-style gourmet chocolates are excellent additions to your store’s gourmet candy display. These candies with their fancy wrappers and wide variety of types appeal to many customers. You can find milk chocolate-covered European-style gourmet candies like covered raisins, dried cherries, peanuts, walnuts, pecans, cashews, macadamia nuts, and almonds, as well as other kinds of chocolate candies like pretzel twists, malted milk balls, coffee beans, espresso beans, and caramel corn.

Another gourmet candy to consider is rich gourmet chocolate. You can find a wide variety of rich, gourmet chocolate candies including Mint Meltaways and Peanut Butter Meltaways, Coconut Haystacks, Vanilla Caramels, and Peanut Butter Cups. For customers who enjoy chocolate-covered nuts, consider Rocky Road Clusters, Peanut Caramel Patties, Cashew Caramel Patties, Pecan Caramel Patties, and Toffee with Almonds. Also keep in mind that you can find sugar-free versions of many rich gourmet chocolate candies, too.

Displaying Gourmet Chocolates

You can display gourmet candies much the same ways as you can display other kinds of candies. You can create countertop displays for your gourmet chocolates, or you can use display racks to hold the candy containers and situate the displays throughout your store.

Acrylic or plastic containers are perfect for storing and displaying just about any kind of candy or sweet treat, and gourmet candies are no different in that respect. Of course, given that these candies are gourmet you might want to forgo colored or clear plastic containers and use glass candy containers instead. Glass candy jars provide a look of elegance that’s perfect for displaying gourmet chocolates. Regardless of the kind of containers you choose for your candy display, make sure your jars have lids if they’re going to hold unwrapped candies.

Choosing Candy for Countertop Displays

Candy is one of the most common items included in countertop displays. There’s plenty to choose from, so it’s easy for storeowners to choose a selection that will please their customers, and it’s popular among a wide variety of customers, which means you’re just as likely to please a shopping grandmother as you are to please the grandson she’s with.

As a business owner, maybe you’ve already decided what kind of candy your store will sell, as well as the kind of candy you’re going to display on your countertop; however, if you need some help, consider these two factors: the kinds of customers your store will attract and the countertop space you have to work with.

Consider Your Customers

Because they cater to a wide variety of customers, retail businesses like convenience stores and grocery stores tend to include just as wide a variety of candies in their countertop displays. For example, bulk wrapped candies like Laffy Taffy, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Starlight Mints, Jolly Ranchers, and Atomic Fireballs tend to satisfy the masses, as do bulk unwrapped candies like Mike & Ike, Good & Plenty, Hot Tamales, Jelly Beans, Skittles, M&Ms, Runts, and Sprees.

However, if your business deals with a more mature demographic, you might want to consider candies like European-Style Gold Label Chocolates and Rich’s Gourmet Chocolates. These kinds of candies work well to make your countertop displays more appealing for customers who’ve outgrown the days of Jawbreakers and Tootsie Rolls. While they’re popular in convenience stores and grocery stores, they’re also well received in more formal restaurant settings and hotels.

Consider the Size of Your Countertop

Countertop displays that feature candy require containers to organize, store, and showcase that candy. You have many options to choose from including colored and clear plastic containers, food grade plastic containers, and glass jars. The kind of containers you choose will depend on the kind of candy you sell as well as the overall environment of your convenience store.

If you have ample countertop space to work with, you can display several different kinds of candies using numerous medium-sized or small candy containers or a few large candy containers. You might want to situate your candy bins atop countertop racks, or you might want to get creative and play with the positions of the containers to form your own display.

However, if your store’s countertop isn’t very large, you’ll probably need to use small glass or plastic containers; you might also be able to situate one or two large candy containers on your countertop. Keep in mind that countertop display racks work well to make the most of the space you have to work with.

Also remember that if you opt to include unwrapped candies in your countertop display, you should store them in glass or plastic containers with lids and make sure your customers have access to aluminum or plastic scoops. The lids help keep the candy fresh and clean, and the scoop makes it possible for your customers to easily dig out the amount of candy they want without contaminating the rest of it.

Where to Position Your Convenience Store Racks

No convenience store is complete without a few display racks. Convenience store racks are ideal ways to organize and display a store’s merchandise, and because these racks are available in an assortment of styles and sizes, there’s virtually no end to the list of display and location possibilities.

Depending on the size of your convenience store, you might be able to use display racks within your store’s aisles, on the countertops, in the deli-style area, and even near the main entries and exits.

Situate Display Racks Near Your Store’s Aisles

One of the most popular places for storeowners to place convenience store racks is at either end of their stores’ aisles; sometimes, if there’s enough room, they can even place racks in the aisles.

There’s really no limit to the kinds of merchandise you can display using these racks. Some ideas might include bagged items like potato chips, peanuts, and trail mix, as well as other wrapped items like granola or breakfast bars, candy bars, and cookies. Some storeowners like to use these racks to display cases of soda and liters too large to fit in the refrigerated section of the store.

Choose Smaller Racks for Registers and Countertops

Another common place for storeowners to use convenience store racks to display merchandise is on the countertops near the registers. These displays offer customers a sort of “last chance” buying option for add-on items.

Usually, merchandise in these kinds of displays includes small, edible items like pieces of candy, gumballs, and lollipops in colored or clear plastic containers. If the countertop offers enough space, you might want to display slightly larger items like candy bars and single-serving bags of chips; with this kind of merchandise, you can generally just place the items directly on the display racks or place the entire box – such as is the case with candy bars – on the rack.

Deli-Style Areas Offer Numerous Options for Display Racks

If your convenience store provides a deli-style area, you can use display racks to organize and offer everything from sandwich dressings and condiments to trays of baked goods like cookies, brownies, and breakfast biscuits. You can also use convenience store racks to hold plastic containers of napkins, straws, and packets of coffee sweetener and creamer, sugar, salt, and pepper.

Be Careful With Merchandise Near Entries and Exits

Because it makes it easy for thieves to make a quicker getaway, positioning convenience store racks near a store’s entries and exits is tricky; however, it’s not impossible. Some stores like small gas stations and even larger convenience stores have to make the most of the floor space they have to work with, and many storeowners choose to situate merchandise-laden display racks near their establishments’ doorways.

If you choose your store’s entries and exits as locations for your display racks, make sure to choose merchandise too large for someone to easily walk away with, such as the same kind of items you’d place in your aisles – large bags of chips, cases of soda, and the like.

Preparing Your Countertop for a Candy Display

Countertop displays of candy are essential for convenience stores, and they also work well in grocery stores, restaurants and hotels.

However, whether you want to create an elaborate display along your countertop or one that includes just a few simple add-on items, you need to consider three things before you start thinking about what kind of candy you want to include in your countertop display: the about the amount of countertop space you have to work with, the difference kinds of candy containers that are available to you, and whether countertop racks would benefit your display.

1. Amount of Countertop Space

The amount of countertop space you have to work with is the key to how everything else regarding your countertop display will play out. If you have plenty of room, you’ll be able to display a much wider variety of candies using more – or larger – candy containers than you would if you only have a small space to work with.

2. Different Kinds of Candy Containers

Once you have a good handle on how much countertop space you have to work with, you can start thinking about the kinds of candy containers you want to use.

• Plastic Candy Containers: These containers are probably the most popular kinds among convenience stores, grocery stores, and other fast pasted retail settings. These containers are quite sturdy, so they’re less likely to break if you or a customer accidentally bumps into them. Clear plastic containers are common choices, but don’t forget about colored acrylic containers. These bins can help you have fun with your countertop displays!
• Food Grade Plastic Containers: Not to be confused with regular plastic containers, food grade plastic containers are designed to keep food fresh and safe from contamination. These bins generally come equipped with lids that you can either snap or screw in place or that are already hinged on the container, as well as plastic or aluminum scoops for customers to get the candy.
• Glass Candy Jars: Though they’re not quite as popular as plastic candy containers, glass candy jars are stylish alternatives for businesses that aim to give off a sense of elegance or charm. Glass jars especially work well for establishments that don’t see high volumes of rambunctious traffic, like hotels and restaurants.
  

Regardless of what kind of candy containers you think will work best in your store, remember to keep your countertop space in mind as you’re selecting them.

3. Using Countertop Racks

Countertop racks are available in a variety of styles and are ideal for countertops of nearly every size. As long as you select racks designed to hold the kind of candy containers you want to use in your display, these racks will help you make the most of your countertop space.

Once you’ve evaluated your countertop space, selected the kind of candy containers you want to use, and determined whether countertop racks will benefit you, you’ll be ready to choose the kind of candy you want to include in your countertop display!

Thinking of Selling Bulk Candies in Your Store?

If you’re not thinking of ordering bulk candies for your store, you certainly should be! Candy is a popular food item among nearly every kind of retail business – even those that don’t typically sell food.

• Convenience stores and gas stations can set up countertop displays of candy, situate gumball machines near their stores’ entryways, and use c-store racks to display candy throughout their stores.
• Restaurants can create candy displays on their countertops near their registers so their customers can purchase gum, breath mints, or pieces of hard candy before they leave.
• Hotels and motels can offer candy to their patrons in their deli or snack areas, as well as their more formal dining areas. Some hotels even opt to place gumball machines throughout high traffic areas of the building such as hallways and near conference rooms and lounge areas.
  

There are so many different kinds of candies on the market, which means you’re able to easily offer your customers a wide variety of candies to choose from. Plus, when you buy bulk candy at wholesale prices, you’re helping your business save money and making sure your store stays stocked with your customers’ favorite kinds of candy!

Bulk Wrapped Candies Offer Many Countertop Display Options

Wrapped candies lend themselves to a great deal of flexibility when it comes to displaying them throughout your store. Wrappers protect the candies, so you don’t have to worry about choosing plastic containers with lids or scoops; this usually means you have more freedom to play around with the sizes and shapes of your display containers, as well as where you situate them.

Look for popular bulk wrapped candies at wholesale prices such as:

• Jolly Ranchers
• Bit-O-Honey
• Tootsie Roll Midgees
• Atomic Fireballs
• Smarties Rolls
• Lemonheads
• Jawbreakers
• Laffy Taffy
  

Add Bulk Unwrapped Candies To Your List

Unwrapped candies are great for gumball machines, but you can also create countertop displays using food grade plastic containers with lids and plastic or aluminum scoops. Containers with lids help protect the candy from dust and other debris, while the scoops provide a sanitary way for your customers to access the candy.

You can find a variety of bulk unwrapped candies at wholesale prices, including:

• Good & Plenty
• M&Ms
• Hot Tamales
• Jelly Beans
• Runts
• Skittles
• Sprees
• Mike & Ike
  

Save Money Buying Bulk Candies at Wholesale Prices

Saving money is something everyone – including business owners – strives to do during these tough economic times, and saving money is one of the best benefits of ordering bulk candies at true wholesale prices.

Be careful not to place your bulk candy order with the first vendor you run across. Although many companies claim to offer bulk quantities of candy at wholesale prices, a little research quickly shows that the prices these companies are quoting are significantly higher than true wholesale prices. Be sure to shop around and compare the prices of several different vendors before placing your order.

Countertop Displays: Consider Bulk Candy Wholesale

Countertop displays are staples in many retail settings. For businesses like convenience stores, grocery stores, and even some restaurants, countertop displays often consist of wrapped and unwrapped candies purchased in bulk at wholesale prices.

Ideas for Countertop Displays of Bulk Unwrapped Candies

If you plan to store and display your unwrapped candies using a countertop display, there are two tools you should become familiar with: gumball machines and food grade plastic containers.

You don’t have to use gumball machines strictly for gumballs; these machines can hold an assortment of small, unwrapped candies. Many gumball machines are attached to tall stands, but you can also find smaller, standless gumball machines that are perfect for sitting on convenience store countertops.

Food grade plastic containers come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Lids designed for the customer to screw or snap on and off, or lids designed to stay attached to the containers with hinges, help keep the candies protected from contamination, and plastic or aluminum scoops make it easy for each customer to get the exact amount of candy he wants without touching the rest of it.

Ideas for Countertop Displays of Bulk Wrapped Candies

When it comes to creating countertop displays of bulk wrapped candies, traditional acrylic and plastic containers are very durable and glass candy jars add an elegant charm to your display. Consider the following factors as you decide how to create your countertop display of bulk candies:

• Countertop Space: The number and size of the candy containers you use depends on how much countertop space you have to work with. Regardless of the size of your countertop, you might consider using countertop racks to hold your containers. Small versions of convenience store racks, or c-store racks, help you make the most of the space you have and include even more candies in your display.
• Store Traffic: If your store is quite busy, plastic or acrylic containers will work best. They’re durable and less likely to break or cause harm to anyone if a customer accidentally knocks them off the counter. If your store has a slower pace, or your displays are located in a place where they’re less likely to experience passing traffic, you might want to use glass candy containers.
• Store Theme: You can find acrylic and plastic containers in a variety of shapes and colors to add pizzazz to your countertop theme! If your store has a more muted atmosphere, glass containers are a stylish solution for holding and displaying your bulk wrapped candies.
  

You can find containers with lids if you want to help protect the candy from theft or if you like the visual appeal some candy bins with lids provide, but because these candies are wrapped, the lids aren’t necessary as far as protection from contamination is concerned.

Buying Bulk Candy Wholesale Helps You Save Money

Aside from helping you create attractive countertop displays and making sure your store is always stocked with your customers favorite items, buying candy at bulk wholesale prices helps you save money.

Wholesale prices are less expensive than retail prices, and when you buy in bulk your getting more candy than you would if you spent the same amount of money on candy set at retail prices. Plus, buying in bulk means you won’t have to order as much candy as you would if you purchased smaller quantities.

Before you place an order for bulk candies, make sure you shop around and compare prices. Some companies might claim to offer bulk wholesale prices but actually charge higher prices than what is considered “wholesale.”

How Can Bulk Unwrapped Candies Benefit Your Retail Business?

If you haven’t started selling bulk unwrapped candies yet, what are you waiting for? These kinds of candies:

• Are ideal for nearly every kind of store, restaurant, and retail business where any kind of food product is sold. You can sell these candies in convenience stores, gas stations, hotel snack bars, grocery stores, fast food restaurants, and even more formal dining establishments.
• Lend themselves to an assortment of display options. You can display these candies on convenience store countertops, in gumball machines, in plastic food grade containers near your store’s deli area, and even near the entries and exits of markets and major national chain stores (think of stores like Wal-Mart and Target).
• Come in a variety of types. You can find unwrapped candies like Sprees, Skittles, Mike & Ike, and gumballs to display throughout your store or restaurant. Because of the wide variety of candies available, you can make sure your store is always stocked with something to please every customer.
  

Find Unbeatable Bulk Wholesale Prices on Unwrapped Candies

When you buy in bulk, you’re making sure your business is always stocked with the kinds of merchandise your customers prefer. Before you order bulk unwrapped candies at wholesale prices, take some time to observe sales trends. What kinds of candies do you customers buy the most? What kinds of candies do they avoid? You’ll want your ordering process to match your customers’ buying trends.

Buying unwrapped candies in bulk not only helps make sure your business stays well stocked; it also helps you get the most bang for your buck. When you find a company that sells bulk candy at true wholesale prices, you save much more money than you would if you ordered smaller quantities of candy.

Of course, in order to make sure you get the best deal, you have to be careful of the “wholesale price” claim: Many suppliers will make this claim, but their prices might actually be higher than true wholesale. Be sure to shop around.

Display Suggestions for Bulk Unwrapped Candies

Unlike wrapped candies like Jawbreakers, Laffy Taffy, Tootsie Rolls, and Jolly Ranchers, unwrapped candies need extra protection to keep them sanitary; therefore, a little extra thought has to go into display bulk unwrapped candies. Consider these ideas:

• Gumball Machines: Gumball machines aren’t just for gumballs anymore! You can use these machines to store and display gumballs as well as other kinds of unwrapped candies like Reeses Pieces, M&Ms, Jelly Beans, and BananaRama candies.
• Food Grade Plastic Containers: These containers have screw-on, snap-on, or attached hinge lids to help keep unwrapped candies protected. Using a plastic or aluminum scoop, customers can get as much candy as they want without contaminating any of the rest of it.
• Gravity Bin Dry Food Dispensers: These kinds of plastic containers often hold dry goods like cereal and coffee grinds or beans; however, they’re also ideal for storing and displaying bulk unwrapped candies. These bins generally feature a handle that will start the flow of candy when a customer spins it one way, and stop the flow when the customers spins it the other way – perfect!
  

Why Should Convenience Stores Buy in Bulk?

Convenience stores and the majority of other retail businesses benefit greatly from ordering bulk wholesale merchandise.

Bulk wholesale prices are generally less expensive than any other ordering method. Storeowners can order nearly any kind of merchandise they need in bulk, and this option also allows them to make sure their stores stay well stocked with their customers’ favorite items. Plus, ordering merchandise in bulk at wholesale prices also minimizes the amount of packaging the storeowners – and the environment – has to deal with.

Bulk Items Wholesale Are Perfect for Convenience Stores

There are so many different kinds of items you can order in bulk at wholesale prices, but especially of interest for convenience stores and other retail settings is bulk candy.

Retail businesses can order bulk wrapped candies and showcase them in countertop displays with clear plastic containers or colored acrylic bins, or put them in containers on convenience store racks or wooden basket displays designed to situate anywhere throughout the store. They can also order bulk unwrapped candies, such as gumballs and other small kinds of candies, to display in places like gumball machines.

Bulk Wholesale Prices Are Ideal for Retail Businesses

Simply put, you save money when you order your store’s wholesale items in bulk. Bulk wholesale prices are generally set to offer the storeowner a bargain. Plus, when you order bulk merchandise, you’re ordering a large quantity but you’re also order fewer times than you would be if you ordered in small quantities. This means you’re spending money at fewer intervals.

Ordering in Bulk Ensures Your Store Is Well Stocked

Retail settings – especially convenience stores – are generally pretty busy, and sometimes it’s difficult to find the time to set aside a time to take stock of what merchandise you need to replace – not to mention find the time to sit down and order it!

When you order bulk wholesale merchandise, you’re making sure of two things:

• Your store is always well stocked with best-selling items. In other words, your store is always packed with your customers’ favorite merchandise, and you never have to leave them disappointed!
• Your ordering dates will become fewer and farther between. Because you will have plenty of your customers’ favorite items, you won’t have to order as often as you would if you originally ordered small quantities.
  

Buy Bulk Wholesale Products Minimizes Packaging

When you buy candy wholesale in bulk, you have less plastic wrappers, bags, and containers to deal with. This is a big timesaver for you because you have less trash to worry about disposing or trying to figure out how to reuse. Of course, Mother Nature is happy anytime you can cut down on the amount of trash you’re creating.

And, remember: If you do find yourself with extra packaging, try to find a way to reuse it. For example, if your bulk products arrive in plastic containers, you can use those as storage containers in your store’s stockroom. If the containers are in good shape, you can use them to create countertop displays near your store’s register!

Bulk Wrapped Candies: Essential for Any Retail Business

Because they’re small, available in an assortment of brands, and wrappers protect them from the elements, bulk wrapped candies are ideal for virtually every kind of retail business. Consider these ideas:

• Convenience stores can create a number of different kinds of displays for wrapped candies.
• Grocery stores often display these kinds of candies along their checkout aisles.
• Gas stations can create small countertop displays near their registers for wrapped candies. Restaurants, like gas stations, can create small displays of wrapped candies by their registers.
• Hotels often have snack bars and dining areas, which lend themselves to wrapped candy displays.
• Amusement and theme parks, as well as carnivals and fairs, can display wrapped candies in small bins at venues throughout the entire park.
  

What Kinds of Bulk Wrapped Candies Are Available?

Retail business can order virtually every kind of wrapped candy that’s available in bulk! This wide assortment of candies makes it easy to add variety to your candy displays as well as offer something for all of your customers.

You can find wrapped candies in bulk such as:

• Atomic Fireballs
• Lemonheads
• Jawbreakers
• Laffy Taffy
• Smarties Rolls
• Root Beer Barrels
• Starlight Mints
• Sunkist Fruit Gems
• Tootsie Roll Midgees
• Jolly Ranchers
• Bit-O-Honey
• Sour Lemons
• Squirrel Nut Zippers
  

If you already know what kind of candies your customers prefer, those are the kinds of candies you should order in bulk; however, if you’re not sure which candies will be popular and which ones won’t, consider order small quantities of several different kinds of candies. Once the candies have been available in your store for a significant amount of time, you will then be able to determine which ones your customers prefer and you can order those wrapped candies in bulk.

Where Can You Display Bulk Wrapped Candies in Your Store?

Due largely to the fact that wrappers protect these candies from dust and debris, you can display them in so many places throughout your store! Consider these options:

• Countertop Displays: These displays are perfect, no matter how big or small your countertop is. You can use clear plastic containers for these displays, which make it easier for your customers to see the candies they want, or you can use colored acrylic containers that add extra visual appeal to your display.
• Floor Displays: These displays are ideal for stores that have plenty of space to work with. You can situate floor displays near your countertop and register or throughout your store near aisles, deli areas, or fountain drink machines. If you opt to display your wrapped candies in floor displays situated near your store’s entryway, though, make sure you have a clear view of the displays to help prevent theft.
• Wooden Basket Displays: Like plastic container displays, wooden basket displays are extremely versatile. You can use two or three wooden baskets to create your own stand-alone countertop display, or you can display your candies in wooden basket racks.
  

Add Extra Charm to Your Candy Display with Saltwater Taffy

If you have ever been to the beach – whether on vacation or simply because you live near one – chances are you are familiar with the extremely popular candy saltwater taffy.

Saltwater taffy (which you might be surprised to learn does not actually include saltwater in its list of ingredients) is a popular candy throughout America and, because of its popularity, it only makes sense to include saltwater taffy when you are considering that candy display in your store, restaurant, amusement park, or even hotel.

Ordering Saltwater Taffy for Your Store

Saltwater taffy is available in a wide assortment of flavors! As you plan your taffy display, you can keep things simple with traditional cherry, strawberry, orange, grape, watermelon, raspberry, banana, vanilla, and peppermint flavors, or spice things up with saltwater taffy flavors like caramel swirl, berries and cream, butter popcorn, caramel apple, chocolate cinnamon, and root beer float. Of course, you could always include a mix of both traditional and more interesting flavors!

Although saltwater taffy got its start in New Jersey, it is very popular in all American states – especially those located to tourist attractions like beaches. This might be because of the use of “saltwater” in its name. It is rare to visit a tourist attraction like a souvenir shop near the beach and not see a saltwater taffy display.

However, regardless of the size or location of your store, it is always best to order bulk saltwater taffy. This candy is highly popular throughout the country and is generally always a quick seller. Ordering saltwater taffy in bulk is an especially good idea for businesses located near the beach because many vacationers and tourists like to purchase large quantities of the taffy to take home – yes, it is that popular!

Displaying Saltwater Taffy Throughout Your Store

Obviously, you can display saltwater taffy throughout your store in plastic bins. Plastic candy containers are versatile, sturdy, and reusable for years after you order them.

If you decide to go this route, it is best to choose clear plastic containers. Saltwater taffy comes in a variety of flavors and colors, and clear containers allow your customers to see exactly what they are reaching for, as well as add to the visual appeal of your taffy display.

However, if you would rather go with colored acrylic containers, you can think about choosing containers in colors that “match” the flavors of the taffy you are displaying. For example, you can choose translucent containers in red or pink for strawberry-flavored taffy, and translucent yellow containers for banana- or lemon-flavored taffy.

Of course, you should not forget about wooden baskets for displaying your saltwater taffy. These baskets are versatile because you can find them in an assortment of sizes and either display them alone or attach them to wooden basket racks for your countertop or floor. These baskets also add a rustic charm to your saltwater taffy display that regular plastic containers – regardless of their size or interesting shape – just can’t match. Wooden basket displays work well whether you are running a convenience store, restaurant, or hotel snack counter!