A few months ago, you may remember that I paid a little visit to the Candy Kittens pop-up store in Chelsea, and was left extremely disappointed. Although the concept was good, the journey there was traumatic, and the result was disappointing, with not so much as a sniff of the promised candy. I later learned that the Chelsea shop finished its' pop-up run a couple of weeks after our ill-fated pilgrimage, so I resigned myself to giving it the benefit of the doubt, assuming that the sweets had all been sold and that was that.
However, I had high hopes for the Christmas pop-up store. "What Christmas pop-up store?" I hear you cry, "for I know nothing of this promised wonder!". Well, you wouldn't really, as the Candy Kittens website hasn't actually been updated, and still contains that unspeakable map which caused so many problems the last time. In fact the only way I knew about the new store was from Jamie Laing's Twitter feed. It was only by googling "Candy Kittens Carnaby Street" that I landed on this website which, very usefully, provided the address of the Carnaby Street store.
Fast forward a while and I found myself outside the new Candy Kittens store within a few days of its' opening, or so I thought. On arriving, I wasn't entirely sure that the shop was open, despite it being a busy Wednesday afternoon a couple of weeks before Christmas. The door was open at a 45 degree angle, and the interior appeared to be bare, both of stock and decoration, as if it was still being set up.
I walked past a couple of times, giving the place a once over and no doubt arousing suspicion in the patrons of the nearby cafe, who probably thought I was casing the joint in readiness for the preppiest burglary ever carried out. Eventually I summoned up the courage to walk in and find out whether it was in fact open. It was, but it seemed that the minimalist look was what they were going for; there was barely any stock (these photos show the more generously filled side of the shop).
As for what was there, it was mainly Jack Wills-esque fashion; oversized hoodies, logo t-shirts and beanie hats, all folded perfectly a la Abercrombie. A few other items were dotted around, such as notebooks and Christmas baubles (the cheapest, and pinkest, items I came across, at £5 each). Yet still there was no evidence of the candy part of the title, except a few old-fashioned humbug-style jars dotted around. At least the Chelsea shop had the saving grace of a milkshake bar, even if they had sold out of most of the flavours.
Oh biscuity Jamie, I love you so, but I don't think retail is for you. Or sweets. And definitely not marketing. Stick to biscuits and looking pretty, eh?
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