Where to get weird and exotic snacks in Kelowna
Arabic malt energy drinks, protein Snickers bars, an edible Barbie dream house, Snoop Dogg chips; if any of those exotic snacks pique your interest there are places to get them in Kelowna.
Seoulful Convenience specializes in Korean snacks and drinks, In 'N' Out Arabic Market has Middle Eastern treats to spice things up and 24 Hour Snacks is a shop that carries bizarre delights you won’t find in almost any other brick and mortar shop.
Jessie Lal and her husband Dean Ahmad opened 24 Hour Snacks just over a year ago.
“Ninety-nine point nine per cent of the people that come in here are in a good mood,” Ahmad said. “So it's been pretty fun getting to meet people and seeing people's reactions and seeing things.”
The shop has candy flavoured drinks, chips inspired by fast food places like Pizza Hut and Subway, big spicy pickles, protein Snickers bars and other snacks that would give your tastebuds whiplash.
Ahmad also likes seeing people feel nostalgic when they see classic snacks.
“It's a lot of retro candies and things you haven't seen in a while. So it's exciting to see people get excited from stuff from their childhood and things like that,” he said. “The best part, I think, is when you have a grandparent come in with their kid, and their grandkid, they'll come in there and see something they've seen in their childhood. We have those Popeye candy sticks, like the cigarette sticks back in the day.”
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Ahmad said the idea came from a relative who sold strange snacks during the pandemic.
“My wife's cousin had the idea, he did it during COVID back in Vancouver. And the rare kind of exotic snacks, everything, and it went quite well. And we realized there's nothing like this in Kelowna, so we thought we'd give it a shot. And the reception has been great, people have been really happy with it,” he said.
The exotic snack business isn’t easy. Limey The British Shop was a store in Kelowna that sold British snacks, and they announced that they had to close up shop on Nov. 1. The shop said importing their inventory was too expensive.
“Market forces have made it impossible to continue. Everyone is struggling right now, and we understand, we really do, but we simply haven’t had the sales that get us through,” Limey said in its closing announcement on social media. “Shipping is through the roof and every which way we turn we are loaded with new and increasing costs that we can’t, and won’t, pass on. On top of all this, we have done nothing but struggle to get stock in, Port Strikes, Rail Strikes, Postal Strikes, it’s all killing small business.”
Von Schweets is a novelty candy shop a few doors down from 24HR Snacks, but Ahmad said there isn’t a rivalry.
“There's nowhere quite like this. They're a traditional candy store with the bulk candies and things like that. I wouldn't call us competitors. We just kind of complement each other,” Ahmad said.
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