BonBon Swedish Candy Co. has opened a theatrical Fish Counter inside the FAO Schwarz flagship at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, adding a high-visibility experiential format to a retail portfolio that already spans more than 1,900 Target stores nationwide. The concept — modeled on traditional fishmongers' counters where product is displayed openly and sold by the pound — positions BonBon at the intersection of specialty confectionery and destination retail, a channel play increasingly favored by better-for-you and import-driven candy brands seeking to build brand equity beyond the planogram.
The Format
The Fish Counter deploys working actors as candy connoisseurs who take orders, scoop imported Scandinavian sweets, and package purchases in proprietary containers. The assortment includes exclusive bundled gift sets, seasonal holiday advent calendars, and gift towers designed for the fourth-quarter gifting window — a critical revenue period for confectionery. Grab-and-go retail displays running alongside the theatrical counter give higher-velocity shoppers a self-serve option, effectively serving both the browsing tourist and the purposeful candy buyer within a single footprint.
The format draws directly on the Swedish cultural tradition of lördagsgodis — literally "Saturday candy" — a weekly ritual of selecting and savoring sweets that BonBon has been evangelizing to American consumers since it opened its first Manhattan location in 2018. That cultural positioning has proven commercially durable: the brand has grown from a single Lower East Side shop to eight branded retail doors and a mass-channel presence at Target that gives it meaningful ACV in the candy aisle.
Retail Strategy
For category managers tracking the imported and specialty confectionery segment, BonBon's dual-channel model — experiential own-retail plus mass-channel distribution — mirrors the playbook used by other trade-up candy brands navigating between premium positioning and mainstream velocity. The FAO Schwarz location functions as a marketing vehicle as much as a revenue driver: Rockefeller Center draws millions of domestic and international visitors annually, particularly during the holiday season, generating organic brand impressions that support sell-through at the 1,900-door Target footprint.
"At BonBon, we have a saying: Growing up is a trap. And if there's one place in the world where that philosophy rings true, it's FAO Schwarz," said Leonard Schaltz, CEO and Co-Founder of BonBon Swedish Candy Co. David Niggli, Chief Merchandising Officer at FAO Schwarz, described the partnership as aligning BonBon's "playful craft of Swedish candy with the immersive, joyful experiences our guests cherish most."
The confectionery category has seen sustained consumer interest in imported and artisan formats, with specialty candy and snacking trends driving incremental TDP gains in both mass and natural channels. BonBon's ability to operate in both a high-footfall tourist destination and across Target's national store network reflects a merchandising strategy that uses owned retail as a brand-building tool while relying on mass distribution for scale. As the holiday gifting season accelerates, the Fish Counter's exclusive seasonal SKUs — advent calendars and gift towers — give the brand incremental shelf presence beyond its standard planogram position.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
