Candy enthusiast Andrea Graef opened This & That candy store in downtown Ann Arbor next to the Michigan Theatre last summer on July 9th, the day before Art Fair. “It’s a great week to open a business because you are guaranteed to have about half a million people walk by your store,” Graef said.
Graef first came to Ann Arbor when her daughter became a student at the University of Michigan, and she found that there were no candy stores downtown. “There are several chocolate stores, but I wanted to open something with a lot of candy, new stuff as well as old-fashioned,” she said.
Prior to becoming the owner of This & That, Graef had a very eventful past. Before Graef was a business owner, she earned a degree in medical records and spent many years working in a hospital. She also worked in retail and was a volunteer for the Red Cross’s Disaster Relief Program. Graef was sent to New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit and also did flood relief in Iowa, “It is very rewarding work but so very very stressful,” said Graef. Graef is also a mother of two children and now a very proud grandmother.
This & That was Graef’s first venture into the candy store business. “It was something I just really wanted to do, so I worked really hard and fast and here we are,” she said. None of Graef’s hard work and dedication has gone unnoticed; from the candy tower she designed herself to the warm and inviting atmosphere of the store, everything seems to be a success.
This & That also has an online business. “I knew that I had to have the online business because you can’t just survive on walk-in traffic, so it has taken a little while to get going but I really wanted to do all the gift stuff for birthdays, events and things like that,” said Graef. Expanding to the online sector has allowed This & That to offer unique services such as candy delivery and the ability to design your own gift baskets. These qualities set This & That apart from its local competitors.
This & That strives to include as many local products as it can. From Bedrizzled popcorn to greeting cards, a good portion of the selection is Michigan-made. “I think it’s really key to bring in as many local products as possible,” said Graef. “It is very important as a local business to support our state.” Even when This & That needs plumbers or cabinet makers, they hire local businesses to keep the in-state economy running.
The candy selection at This & That is superb. As soon as you step into the store you are overcome with delicious scents of sugar, chocolate, and fruit and everywhere you look you see candy. This & That has a very homey feel and is family oriented. “My granddaughter loves candy corn so we always have that. She also loves the fairy doors so we basically built one of those for her,” Graef concluded. The fairy door in the store is not a part of the other ones downtown, but it is comparable. When you look into the door’s window you see a miniature version of the shop.
Overall, This & That is a great and much needed addition to downtown Ann Arbor. The creative and dedicated Andrea Graef has given downtown Ann Arbor the candy store of everyone’s dreams.
