Why Sweet Tooth Isn't a Self Service Store

At our most recent staff meeting, we shared ideas about how we service our customers.
From the beginning, way back in 1992, we have never had a self-service store.  Our jars of candy and our chocolates in the case have always required our staff to serve the customer.
Since 1992, many stores which sell candy have designed their shops for self-service and hired less staff.  Fancy candy bins, signage, fun colors are all a part of the self-serve store. Self-service and less staff are ways of keeping overhead costs down.
Have you ever watched what happens in a self-service store?  People serve themselves a "sample". Some people dispense the candy and then decide to put it back.  There is a lot of touching and examining of candy.  Little tykes put stuff in their mouths or walk around the store carrying candy which Mom and Dad don't purchase.
This sort of self-service gives our Sweet Tooth staff the "willies". 
We imagine customers coming in after someone has been touching, squeezing, examining candy and buying that same package.  Customers never know if someone has dispensed candy and then, after examining or even perhaps sampling it, they put it back in the bin, only to be dispensed by the next person.
Our staff also talked about temperature.
Many stores which sell candy do not keep the store's climate at a lower temperature.  Why not?  Well, candy is really just a side-line for those stores and the main merchandise does not require a temperature of 68-70 degrees, which candy does.
The enemy of candy is temperature, light, moisture and strong scents or odors..  Attempting to control these 4 "enemies" means that at Sweet Tooth, year around, the temperature in our candy section is no higher than 70 degrees.  Candy can stay fresh for a long time if we keep its "enemies" at bay. 
So when you visit our store in the winter, our low temperature doesn't really register with you.  But in the summer, when no one wears coats and heavier clothes, many customers comment about how chilly it is in the store.  We are accommodating the needs of our candy.  Air conditioning is a year around electric bill for us.

We also don't allow strong scents or odors in our store.  Chocolate absorbs odors like a sponge.  Most people want their chocolate to taste like chocolate and not scented candles, perfumes or other odors
At Sweet Tooth, we do our best to accommodate customers' questions about candy.  Does it contain gluten?  Is it manufactured in a facility and on equipment which might also manufacture items with nuts?  What is the carb count on this candy?  What is the substitute for sugar in our Sugar Free candy?
We do our very best to answer these and other questions.  We are best friends with our candy and if we are missing some information, we work to find the answers to those questions.
We are proud of our staff at Sweet Tooth.  They know their stuff!!  And as long as we are here, we will always be a store with the old-fashioned motto of serving our customers.