A BRAND new American sweetshop has opened its doors in Bradford.
The second branch of family-run Candy Crunch is now open on Cottam Avenue, off Legrams Lane, following the success of the Bradford city centre store which opened last June.
Director Hadiqa Rehman, 21, said: “It was my brother’s dream to open up a candy shop and we made that happen in the town centre and it just hit off so we opened our second location.
“It was my brother’s idea but we developed it together and he let me take the lead on it all, we’re both partners in it.”
The store sells imported candy, drinks and groceries from across the world, including countries such as America, Japan and Australia.
Hadiqa’s brother, Adeel Rehman, 29, came up with the idea as “it had never been done before in Bradford”.
“He just had this idea to open a candy shop at some point, so he gathered the funds and made it happen to make his dream come true,” Hadiqa added.
Adeel added that he wanted to “create a colourful store for people to experience not just the candy but the amazing artwork too”.
The siblings are also in the process of opening a store in Manchester’s Arndale Shopping centre.
Hadiqa added: “We’re taking it step by step at a time but the dream is to have a couple of locations around the UK. At the moment we’re just up north in Yorkshire and Manchester, but we might spread out as we grow.”
Hadiqa finished university this year, before taking on the role as director.
She said “I just graduated from uni this year, I came straight out of university but I was kind of running it behind the scenes whilst I was at uni but I’ve only started working here full time recently. My brother has been at the front of it but now he’s taken a step back and I’ve taken on the director role.”
The business is also helping the community by offering traineeships in collaboration with Qube Learning. The scheme will give local people the opportunity to gain work experience.
Hadiqa added: “We want to to help young people gain work experience at local businesses and give them an opportunity to work, so we decided to be a part of the scheme to help them get their foot in the door.
"What we offer is an eight week traineeship. The three individuals who we took on from there so far have done so well that we have kept them on as full and part-time staff. We think it’s really important to give back to the community.”
The store also offers an online service on JustEat.com.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel