Bin candy back at Bella Union

Sep 16 2011, Written by Autumn Robinson in News, 6 Comments

Minshu Deng/The Chronicle

Bella Union has wheeled out it’s popular candy bins after a short hiatus.

The scale was broken and had to be re-calibrated, said Sam Clowney, one of the owners of Bella Union.

Students who generally use the Union to lounge, study or socialize (or perhaps all of the above) agreed that the cafe is not the same without the friendly and colorful presence of the candy bar.

“Without bin candy, my life was incomplete,” said sophomore Erika Lampert. “It helps me get through hump day.”

Sophomore Emily Carey was too busy buying bin candy to comment.

“Students were definitely asking about it last week,” Clowney said. “That was a good gauge for us to figure out whether or not it would sell.”

The fact that the broken scale didn’t take long to fix did not hinder BU’s business.

“We don’t normally put out the bin candy during the first week anyway,” Clowney said. “A large percentage of juniors are studying abroad, and the sophomore class is new to West Campus and don’t know where anything is—especially the smaller vendors.”

He added that the first week only produces about 15 percent of a normal week’s business.

“It takes about 10 to 12 weeks to see a real [business] pattern [at BU]“, Clowney said.

People buy anywhere from 13 cents to 15 dollars of bin candy, he said.

“We love being here on campus and want to serve the Duke community,” he said. “Bin candy generates about 10 to 12 percent of our revenues and so we don’t want to withhold that from anybody.”

The only reason they do, he explained, is that for the first week, the bin candy just sits there and gets stale. He said he doesn’t want to let that happen because he does not want any students to have even one bad experience with Bella Union service.

Students find they can breathe again after the long wait.

“I’m super psyched because bin candy is such a great after-school snack,” said sophomore Lisa David.