EAST AURORA, N.Y. (WKBW) — A new "soda shop" is coming to Main Street in East Aurora with its grand opening in just a few days.
The shop's owner, a mother of five, tells 7 News she wanted to create a space for the community to gather.
She's been working on the shop for months now and is already hoping it will grow beyond Western New York.
"When you think of soda shop time... it was people hanging out together," says Kandice Hulsing.
She is looking forward to bringing a brand new soda shop to East Aurora called "Kandi Cane." It's set to open on May 1.
A vintage-style soda shop that's expected to take people back in time when, "it was less phones, tablets, computers. It was more face-to-face," Kandice's father-in-law, Russell Hulsing said.
Russell hopes the shop grows beyond East Aurora and says he "would like to see it become a national chain."
Inside, there's still some work to be done but the soda machine is up and running.
The signature drink? It's named after the store, a "Kandi Cane" soda. The store is named after its owner, Kandice.
"When I was growing up, my mom always called me 'Kandi Cane.' We wanted to do the vintage-style soda shop with a modern twist. The modern twist is no ice cream instead you have different flavors in your drinks." The signature soda is made with peppermint and vanilla syrup.
Both Kandice and her father-in-law hope the shop will help encourage people, especially kids to go back to the basic way of communicating in person and over a soda.
Russell says texting is not the same as talking and says, "I believe the number is 78% of communication is not the words you say but how you say them. That's lost in a text."
"When you communicate with someone face to face you can see someone's expression, you can hear someone's tone and so often things get misunderstood or misinterpreted in a text," Kandice said.
Kandi Cane Soda shop will open May 1 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. The price of a soda ranges from $2.50 to $3.75 depending on the size.
