In the 80s and beginning of 90s there were only two ways to get goods from United States to Mexico (you couldn’t get it until free trade agreement of 1994) , you either crossed the border to buy them, or you went to markets and stores where it was sold illegally. We used to called it “La Fayuca”.

For us kids, it was about the candies: skittles, ringpops, nerds, smarties, butterfingers — they made us all crazy and happy.

Now imagine the flood of memories that came over me when I entered “The Big Top Candy Shop” in Austin, Texas. A shop full of not just the traditional American candy, but candy from all parts of the world, an insane variety of candy that made me wish I was a kid again. For the 8 year old Bere, this would have been a candy dream come true. But for today’s Bere, I enjoyed the stores merchandising more. It was just so beautifully arranged, so unusual, and between the candies you found steampunk music instruments, and weird circus posters. It was hands down the best store I visited this year.

But there was at least one happy kid in the store. A certain Swedish kid that lost is shit when he saw a bar of Swedish Daim. Just look at that smile.

Address
1706 South Congress Avenue
Austin, TX 78704

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Other stores I have visited

Diagonal Patriotismo Vintage Clothing
Beyond Retro, Stockholm
Lolo Vintage, Shanghai
Marc Jacobs Masaryk, México
Marc Jacobs Arcos Bosques, México
Urban Outfitters, Stockholm
Söderhallarna, Stockholm
Carmen Rion Boutique, México