How Sweet it is…

Dylan Lauren’s hip take on the corner candy store is giving trendy New Yorkers a fabulous sugar rush.

As far back as she can remember, Dylan Lauren has always loved art, design — and candy. So in 2001 she decided to combine her passions to create a unique candy emporium that has everyone from New York hipsters to tourists of all ages eating out of her hand. Dylan, who graduated from Duke University in 1996 with a B.A. in art history, first got the idea of getting into the candy business in her junior year, when she studied abroad and observed how stores in London and Rome sold “all these amazing candies with all this cool packaging,” she recalls. Upon graduating, she started her own promotional marketing and events company, which eventually evolved into Dylan’s Candy Bar. With stores in Manhattan (Third Avenue and 60^th Street), Roosevelt Field, Long Island, Orlando and Houston, Dylan’s now caters to some 1 million customers and hosts approximately 800 parties annually, from movie premieres to baby showers to corporate events. Dylan, the daughter of fashion designer Ralph Lauren, took some time out last fall and chatted with Report editor Robert Levin about the ups and downs of the sweet tooth business. VISIONS OF SUGARPLUMS

RL: When I was a kid, my friends wanted to be firemen, ballerinas, and baseball players. Not too many kids said, “I want to open up a candy store,” although I’m sure many were thinking about it. How far back does this idea go?