Remember when you could walk into the lobby shop and pick out the perfect, personalized assortment of toffee pretzels, M&Ms and chocolate covered peanuts from the candy bins?
If you have not already noticed, that’s no longer feasible. The bin candy, which previously existed in three locations —Bella Union, the Lobby Shop and the East Campus University Store under Marketplace—now exists only at Bella Union.
So what happened to the other bin candy?
Brian Burtram, associate director of the management team for Duke University Stores, said that when the Lobby Shop and University Store on West were reconfigured, there was not enough wall space provided for the bin candy.
Consequently, the removal of bins from the Lobby Shop resulted in the removal of bins from East Campus as well.
“In the past we restocked the bins on East Campus with candy from the Lobby Shop bins in order to keep them fresh,” he said.
However, due to the removal of the lobby shop bins and a lack of business at the East Campus location, it was not practical to continue buying candy from the vendor, he added.
The new pre-packaged candy offered at the Lobby Shop now replaces the bin candy that was once there.
“The candy stays fresher longer and is much more sanitary than candy touched by hands digging around in the bins,” Burtram said.
Burtram said that he and the rest of the management team had not heard any complaints regarding the removal of the bin candy. When asked about the possibility of the bin candy’s return, however, Burtram responded that he would never say never.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.