Los Angeles - Dylan's Candy Bar

https://www.dylanscandybar.com/

Dylan's Candy Bar is a chain of boutique candy stores started by Dylan Lauren.

As much as we loved the Christmas decorations in the Grove, the real reason that we went there was to get to Dylan's, which Maria really wanted to see. Once there, the decorations were a big part of the magic.

Lauren was inspired by Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and you can see the influence. Everything is bright and colorful and larger than life. Yes, the candies are primarily normal size - there are some larger candies - but there are blown up photos and statues and figures so that you see candy writ large wherever you look.

It is still worth taking a reasonable view. There is a lot of bulk candy set up similarly to Sweet Factory or Fuzziwigs, where you would probably pay less. In addition they have a selection of candies that might be harder to find, and there is an ice cream counter as well. In that way it is very similar to iCandy that we visited in Chicago. Those places are probably also less expensive, but they did not have the same level of visual appeal.

So if you go - and perhaps this makes it appropriate that we went in Los Angeles - you are paying more for image. That sounds like a criticism, but it is something that works. We use the phrase "kid in a candy store" to convey excitement, but we don't expect adults to have the same reaction. Dylan's adds enough visual stimulation to give adults a similar level of excitement for their candy store experience, and that's worth something.

They do get into holidays, with an especially impressive Hanukkah display, but there is enough celebration of candy that Dylan's should be worth visiting all year.