A staple pit-stop in Thurmont, MD, to locals and tourists, Gateway Candyland, has been around for forty-two years. It was initially built as a market in 1983 by Sterling and Linda Bollinger to sell their produce from their orchard before Brad and Amber Seiss purchased the store in 2018.
Immediately, when you walk in you are greeted by a fresh warm smell of baked goods that brings you a sense of comfort. The shop has many products to offer from ice cream to lots of candy including homemade chocolates and gummy candies. Added onto the building is a mini shop called, The Farmhouse Exchange, where sandwiches, breads, baked goods, and even more are offered.
We interviewed the owner, Amber Seiss, about why she wanted to continue the business and uphold its traditions.
“When we decided to purchase the business it was always our intention to kind of continue on what had been here, you know it’s very much a staple in the community and it has been for a long time. We get customers every day that are like ‘we’ve driven by here for years and we’ve never stopped in’ so we never had any intention to not-other than we just wanted to make sure that we continued on.”
She went on to explain how in the last several years they have made significant changes through adding the farmhouse and expanding what they have to offer.
Over the past year, Gateway’s social media following has skyrocketed from many viral videos showing off their products. We went on to ask her how she has seen social media help grow her business.
“It’s significant from when we first started. When we first purchased the business there was no social media present, except for the liquor store. We get a lot of customers that now drive over an hour to try our food. To come and literally just eat ice cream is crazy to think about because of how many other places customers drove by to get to us.”
Gateway Candyland offers a variety of seasonal items from different flavored milkshakes to all kinds of candy. We asked her how she creates these products. “We work together as a team to come up with ideas and my employees are always like ‘Amber, I have this idea’ and then I am like ‘Okay let me hear it.’ I’m a big ‘I’ll try anything’ because what is the worst that could happen? At least we attempted something.” She went on to explain how she rather try something new and have it fail rather than not trying at all.
Next, we asked her what the best selling products were at the moment.
“…that’s always a hard question because for us it’s a very seasonal answer to us as every season brings something different.” She goes on to explain how they are transitioning to Easter—as it is their biggest chocolate holiday. She says that they go through “hundreds and hundreds of pounds of chocolate” as it is being poured into molds for bunnies and other products.
She explained some statistics about the chocolate popularity at her business.
“…several years ago milk chocolate was hands down the best seller, there was nothing even close to milk chocolate- like dark or white chocolate. Now milk chocolate is still the highest seller of all, but the other ones have closed the gap a bit.” She also brought up how their peanut butter chocolates have grown substantially.
We also asked her what her favorite menu item was: “That’s hard because I am definitely a creature of habit so when I find something I like, I eat a lot…but at the moment I would definitely say probably some dark chocolate cashews.”
We went to the store to try some of the products, including their seasonal Saint Patrick’s Day milkshakes and sundaes. Each holiday they create three different extravagant milkshakes. These typically include a glass cup with some sort of icing design on the rim of the cup and decorative top. These milkshakes are truly delicious.
Lastly, we asked Amber what she hopes for the future of her business. She said that she is always looking for ways to grow and to stay in trend with what the people want.
“People are very much in a health trend right now as they are being a little bit more conscious in terms of what they’re consuming.”
She is constantly looking for ways to cater to everyone through creating more gluten-free products, dairy-free products, or any of those options in her store.
Gateway Candyland is definitely a place you should stop by to try if you are in the area. The wide variety of products is amazing. There is always something for everyone to try. Even The Farmhouse Exchange is a great place to stop by for a sandwich. Everything is reasonably priced and the products are amazing and all the employees are friendly, helpful and all hardworking. You can tell Amber and her husband, and all the employees are constantly trying to find new ways to improve the business and include items for everyone. If you ever want a sweet treat, stop at Gateway Candyland in Thurmont, MD.