Olin Helped Them Open A Candy Shop

The Bear-y Sweet Shoppe co-founders. Courtesy photo.

AN INTEREST IN RETAIL

Landzberg’s interest in retail is clear from her studies and internships. She says it all began at a young age – probably thanks to growing up in Northern New Jersey, where there are the most malls per square mile than the rest of the country.

In college, she worked for a retailer called Band of Outsiders as a sales and logistics intern, for J-Crew as a financial planning intern, and for General Mills as a financial analyst intern.

Though it all, she was running the Bear-y Sweet Shoppe as CFO, and says it was very helpful to be able to practice what she was learning in class.

“It was great, because we use the case method here at Wash U., so we learn about facts and concepts and solutions, but we don’t get to implement anything. With the candy store, I’ve found that implementation is the hardest part. Coming up with solutions is great, but when you implement it is when you have to become a problem solver, or learn to adapt and be creative,” she says.

Being able to use what she was learning also made her classes more interesting, she says. “I was better able to relate to the material, because I know how it affects the candy store,” she says. “I just took a tax and accounting course two semesters ago, and for most people it was theoretical, but I had to do that for the candy store, so it made me want to pay better attention.”

SELLING HER SHARES AND PASSING IT ON

For the first year, as sophomores, Landzberg says their goal was to make the in-store experience as strong as possible. For the second year running, they expanded their revenue stream by partnering with various university departments. “Our first revenue stream could be in-store customers, but we could also get into gifts, that the university officers would buy from us for employees or student workers or guest speakers,” she says. “And we could set up candy bars so guests could make themselves their own bags at certain events.”

In the second semester of her junior year, Landzberg successfully sold her shares to a younger Wash. U. student, and passed her one quarter of the business along. “Usually when a founder becomes a senior, they sell the business to an underclassman,” she says. “100% of the business goes up for sale in the same year, so it’s a rocky model, because the new owners have a big learning curve.”

Landzberg decided to sell her shares a year early, so that for at least one year, there would be overlap between new owners and continuing owners.

“We built it from scratch, and we wanted it to continue. This was the best experience I had throughout college, and I hope other students can go through this experience too,” she says. “I feel like I’m a much more well-rounded and smarter individual because of it.”

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