I had the day off so today I went to a few of the it'sugar (specialty candy) stores in Manhattan that I hadn't been to before to check up on Yowie. I visit the one at Columbus circle frequently and there always seems to be a few Yowies missing from the box even on their poorly placed shelves. I decided to visit the other stores and collect more info, and also return to Dylans Candy Bar to see how they were doing there. The nearest Walmart is a 45 minute bus ride away. In New Jersey.
There seems to have been some competition pop-up from Ferrero with their new 'Kinder-Joy' eggs. They are selling double the amount of Kinder Joys than Yowies at the Columbus circle store (a box a fortnight of Yowies, two boxes Kinder Joy), but they are placed right next to the register. It might be best to google/youtube these to see what they are like, they have poor reviews online and although shaped like a kinder-surprise, are different. Hopefully they disappear after Easter.
It'Sugar on 42nd street inside Madame Tussauds museum (times square)
You need a ticket to access this store, but I told the manager I just wanted to visit the candy shop. So they had a security guard escort me into the museum to the 5th floor where the candy shop is located. I couldn't find any Yowies and so i asked staff about them. They had never heard of them. Luckily this isn't a 'public' store. Seems more like a 'express' store. No Kinder Joys here either.
It'Sugar downtown next to NYU
Found Yowies here, well placed in the middle of the store on one of the easter-themed shelves. A good few Yowies missing which was great. I spoke to one of the girls working here. She said kids bought them but weren't as popular as another candy (and shows me a candy nothing similar to a Yowie). I wish I wrote down the name now, I'll find out what it was tomorrow. Was interesting, Kinder Joys were placed at the front of the store and they hadn't sold a single one. Maybe the angle was bad in relation to the door.
It'Sugar further downtown in the financial district on Fulton street
This was the most interesting part of my investigation. This store is located in a funny area. It's right near a pier and there are a few other high end stores near it like Abercrombie and Fitch but the area seemed to have low foot traffic. I guess it's more popular on weekends. I went in looking for Yowies and the guy couldn't find any so he brought his manager down to talk to me. He told me that he completely sold out of Yowies and hadn't received any more since the start of February. He told me how popular they were and that he was selling a box each day through the holiday period and even throughout January. He told me there are 36 Yowies in a box and they were selling them for $5 a pop. The most interesting thing he said though was that most of the customers buy three at a time, not just one. 36 Yowies a day at $5 a pop (6.85AUD). $180 revenue a day just from one candy. $1260 a week. USD. Thats 1725AUD. He said Yowies and another candy (showed me the same candy that the girl from the NYU store showed me that was nothing like a Yowie - will get the name of it tomorrow) were the most popular things in his store. After they sold out of Yowies they brought in Kinder Joy, and sold out of them too and are yet to receive more of them aswell. The manager was very enthusiastic about Yowies. Talking to me with a big smile on his face the whole time.
Side note: Two weeks ago the girl at the columbus circle store told me it'sugar does its inventory control during the jan/feb period and doesn't like to order more candy during that period. this could be the reason for the outage at the Fulton street store, not necessarily a Yowie-side issue.
Dylands Candybar on the Upper East Side
This store is huge. Opposite Bloomingdales. They have everything here. Yowies are poorly placed on the bottom floor on one of the bottom shelves in the corner facing the wall. I managed to get hold of a manager (I think) I asked him if there was any chocolate like this in the store, and he said no, Yowie was the only chocolate-wrapped toy he had in the store.
I asked him how many he sells each day. He says on a slow day about six. On a busy day 10-12. These are priced at $4.99. 9 yowies a day average at $5 a pop. $45. $315 a week revenue. Not bad I thought considering the placement of them. This was also the same store that said they had an event for them last March and they completely sold out of them. The fact that they were poorly placed indicates that kids came in specifically looking for them. The manager also told me kids as old as 12 years old were buying them. No Kinder-Joys here. The manager made no mention of brining in Kinder-Joys in either and didn't seem enthusiastic about them either. He continued to tell me how their choc toys are banned (which we all already know).
There is one more It'Sugar store I am yet to visit, on the Upper East Side around 87th street. I'll try visit it tomorrow and will report back my findings. I am hoping to visit the Madeleine Chocolate Factory in April too (about 1.5 hour train ride from me on the Upper West Side) and will see if I can get any more info. I have also found Yowies pop up at a store on my block called Yoghurt and Candy World. I check back each day and they seem to sell just one a day. I checked their other store on the Upper East Side but they didn't have them.
Side note #2: On the Yowie world website section 'where to buy' lists four other stores selling Yowies. Two It'Sugar stores - one inside Madison Square Garden which only operates some of the time - probably an express store. And another It'Sugar a little north east of Times square, Toys R Us in the middle of Times Square, and FAO Schwarz (famous toy store) on the upper east side. All three of these stores closed down last year. Toys R Us moved to the Manhattan mall 10 blocks down from their original location to 34th street and opened up an express store. No Yowies or Kinder Joys here. Just a few Hersey bars. Depressing store too, poor lighting, annoyingly-loud 'customer just entered' sound you can hear all over the store. wouldn't want my beautiful Yowies on display here.
I will also look out for Angry Birds choc toys next month and will continue to check in 7/11s, Walgreens, and CVS for Yowies. I am yet to see Kinder-Joys anywhere else beside a few It'Sugar stores.
One thing I am unsure about is that in the latest announcement the company says that when the Madelaine factory comes online at the end of March it will begin production of Angry Birds chocs. Not Yowies. I hope they have enough inventory to supply current stores while they pump out Angry Birds also.
