Candy Bouquet — Local services in St. Albert

Increasingly, this store represents how a business can take advantage of people who are seeking a niche product. The prices have always been high for goods imported from the UK but my last visit made me realize that Candy Bouquet is just ripping people off for the sake of it. I went in for some Heinz Salad Cream - there were 3 bottles left on the shelf, with original British price markings of one pound 39 nine pence sterling, which, at a generous exchange rate is equivalent to $2.78. The items were marked up by Candy Bouquet as $4.00 sale price, some 40% above the normal retail price. The reason for the sale was that the items were over 2 months out of date! When I asked about the pricing I was given the usual story about shipping costs, which, in light of the current low price of oil (which is driving the Alberta deficit), simply doesn't hold true. I also ship stuff around the world on a daily basis.

Another example is chocolate - Freddo bars, marked as 25p sterling, sell for $1.00 - Fudge bars, marked up as 25p sterling, sell for 65c!! There is no obvious strategy or consistency to the pricing model other than to make unreasonably large profits at the expense of the local community.

In sum, it's all a rip-off, especially when the goods are out of date. I have made a conscious decision not to shop there again. Stores such as Walmart and London Drugs are starting to sell British goods at much more competitive prices and these are the stores where we should be...

Unfortunately we tried to get there after work and we got in 5:55. As soon as we walked in the door they informed us we only had 5 mins to shop as they were closing in 5min. From the 2 mins I was in there my husband and I felt unwelcome and completely rushed. We were told twice in span of 1 min they were closing and was there something they could take us to. We have never been able to get to this place before it closes. This was the first time we actually got there and the open sign was there. I am a manager of a store myself. If a customer comes in 5 mins to close you let them know but you want to make money so let them shop. My husband is a candy addict and we were excited to finally see this place open. My husband would of spent 50.00 no problem on candy. There seemed to be lots of interesting stuff but as I said we were uncomfortable so we left and we will NOT...

What a great local gem! This place has been in business for probably 25-30 years on St. Albert and it never disappoints. They make some pretty amazing candy "arrangements" that I've used for gifts over the years. They've done a couple of Edmonton Oilers themed ones for me that have turned out really well. But aside form the edible candy arrangements, they always have really cool imported candies and other products and I always leave there with something interesting. This year my secret santa requested black licorice and they had dozens of different kinds from all over the world. Couldn't help get myself a few stocking stuffers at the same time ;-). And the staff are always...