Today we’d like to introduce you to Dylan Richter
Hi Dylan, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My wife, Katie, and I have always been big candy fans. She lived down the street from a small candy store after college that we’d walk to all the time. We always visit the local candy shops on vacations and we have three drawers in our kitchen dedicated to candy but we never planned on doing anything with candy other than eat it.
During COVID, we moved from Chicago back to her hometown of Hillsboro, IL, about an hour north of St. Louis, to spend time and help out with her dad who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I had been working since 2014 in strategy & operations at DoorDash and she was (still is) a scientist working in a lab at the University of Chicago. After those challenging few years, we decided it was time for something new and wanted to give back to the community that showed us so much support.
The idea for a candy shop came up and we couldn’t shake it. We opened The Sweet Spot in July ’23 featuring over 1,000 candies, sodas, sweets and treats. We’ve had so much fun with it, we’re opening a second location in Highland, IL at the end of the year.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We’ve been fortunate to receive an incredible amount of support from the day we opened but like anyone transitioning into a new ‘career’, we certainly had learnings along the way. Neither of us had any prior retail experience and we bought the building our store is located in at the beginning of a full renovation. Project managing a building renovation while designing the space, layout and fixtures was a great (and often frustrating) learning experience. Fortunately, we were able to find and work with a number of talented people in the community to help bring the vision to life.
Once we opened, there were countless things that we either didn’t think of or didn’t realize we’d need in order to run a smooth operation. You don’t know what you don’t know. From not having a barcode scanner for the 1,000+ SKUs on opening day to running out of half of our candy the first week because we underestimated our traffic. All great problems to have but in the moment, certainly stressful.
Overall, we’ve been really lucky that the store’s reception has been super positive and it’s gone pretty smooth so far.
We’ve been impressed with The Sweet Spot, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The Sweet Spot was opened in July 2023 by Hillsboro-native, Katie Homa, and her husband, Dylan Richter. We’re a family-owned, small town sweet-tooth satisfying destination. What we offer is an extensive selection of candies, treats & drinks but what we provide is a unique & family-friendly experience for the community.
Each store features a giant selection of build-your-own Pick & Mix bulk candy bins, gourmet chocolates, rare international candies, kids novelty & viral candies, glass bottle sodas, a complete retro candy collection, ice cream novelties and more. We carry over 1,000 items and new treats are introduced monthly.
We also believe strongly in supporting the communities that support us. 1% of all sales are contributed to our ‘Sweet Scholars Fund’ that we invest back into our schools & students.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I’d consider myself pretty risk-tolerant. Perhaps it’s from the experience at DoorDash where I joined when the company was quite small (~30 people) and success / job security was not a given. We worked hard every day to make the experience better for the audiences we served and simply tried to grow the company. Most people didn’t think the model of 3rd party delivery / logistics was viable but we just stayed focused on solving our customer’s problems and by doing that, grew the company into what it is today.
Through that experience, I learned that you often have to just take a leap and invest a significant amount (whether time, money or both) to create something special. If you believe deeply in it and you receive validation from the audience you’re trying to serving, then there’s always going to be risk but it’s not as daunting when you can see a path to navigating it.
While I loved my time at DoorDash, we took a pretty big risk when I left that job/career, bought a building in a small town and opened a brick & mortar candy shop. While the risk was high, the excitement was far higher and I figured the worst case scenario would be it flops and I go back and find a “real job” again – a scenario I knew I could live with. With that realization, it no longer felt like much of a risk and instead, felt like a fun, valuable learning experience with upside to turn into a solid, sustainable business. Risk-taking to me is all about perspective & having the confidence not in knowing all the answers when you start, but the confidence that you can figure it out as you go.
Pricing:
- Nor really but you can list our website where readers can shop.
- https://www.trythesweetspot.com/s/shop
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.trythesweetspot.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trythesweetspot
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/trythesweetspot
