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Jacob Horsfall and Nikki Victoria, owners of Trolley Car Sweets and Treats
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Candy selections inside Trolley Car
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Jacob Horsfall and Nikki Victoria stand in the center of their miniature candy kingdom, Trolley Car Sweets and Treats, surrounded by nearly 7,000 pounds of confections. The rainbow of color-coordinated bins showcases sweet and sour varieties from around the world — from sour peach ovals and potent pineapple rings to strawberry marshmallow cubes and the Scandinavian staple salty licorice. They are, by all accounts, in their happy place.
“We love candy, we love this type of candy, and we think it’s unique enough to be a little bit of a differentiator,” Horsfall says. “This doesn't really exist in Richmond.”
On July 1, the husband-and-wife duo opened the Scandinavian-inspired candy store at 407 Strawberry St. in the Fan. The shop’s pick-and-mix lineup features nearly 100 varieties of gummies and other candies sourced from Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Spain, Turkey, Germany, Mexico and the Netherlands.
The couple finish each other’s sentences as naturally as they sort through gummy candies, calling out textures and favorites. Years in corporate customer service have shaped their business instincts, but what drives them here is something sweeter: a shared childlike enthusiasm for candy.
Long before Trolley Car had a lease or a logo, their vacations often included a stop at the local candy store wherever they traveled. “We’ve been in Sweden and in Copenhagen, where they have Candy King, and it looks very much like this format. That was really my first taste of all this candy,” Victoria says.
While these niche treats could be dismissed as a trend, for Horsfall and Victoria the shop is the culmination of years spent filling suitcases with candy to transport home from abroad, receiving peach rings as a gift every Christmas and slowly working toward something they’ve imagined for years.
Together, they have spent decades working at companies including Target and Amazon. Horsfall also served in the Peace Corps and taught middle school geography.
“That built a lot of really strong business sense for me,” he says. “We’ve taken all that experience from a corporate standpoint, and we’ve always wanted to open a business or own something for ourselves and be independent.”
Eventually, they began asking themselves, if they could build someone else’s business, why not their own? This year, Horsfall left his job to commit to the sweet pursuit full time.
Victoria, who was born in the Philippines before immigrating to South Carolina as a child, says both her family’s journey and Horsfall's upbringing shaped their drive. “It’s definitely one of those very successful immigration stories for me, and Jake’s mom is a single mom, so that’s a big part of both of our journeys together,” she says.
In 2021, they relocated to Richmond from Charlotte, North Carolina, to be closer to family. The fresh chapter deepened their sense of entrepreneurial possibility.
“That spirit of wanting to do something on our own never really came until we came to Richmond,” Victoria says. “It was so new to us that we had to build a community, and in doing so we saw how alive the small-business spirit is here.”
For more than a year, they refined the business plan, developing the brand with local agency Night Swim and imagining what Trolley Candy could become.
“It was like, ‘OK, if we can find the perfect spot, this will be the moment,’” Horsfall says.
They set up shop in the former Idle Hands Bread Company space, tucked away on a charming block in the Fan among neighboring businesses including ice cream shop Scoop, Italian carryout 8 1/2 and crafting space Les Sardines Studio and situated close to Scuffletown Park. The location was no longer a question mark, it was an exclamation point.
“We felt like, if this is going to work anywhere in Richmond, this is the place,” Horsfall adds.
Trolley Car Candy and Sweets features nearly 100 varieties of confections from around the world.
Inside, playful botanical wallpaper stretches across the room like illustrations across the pages of a children’s book. The familiar scent of sugar hits immediately, a saccharine smack that feels nostalgic and transportive. Every few feet brings another surprise: gooseberry jelly frogs, Ferrari-shaped sour citrus cars, mushroom-shaped banana-caramel marshmallows and tart mango-cola gummies.
“Starting a business for yourself is awesome, but starting one that everyone else seems to love is the cherry on top,” Horsfall says with a smile. “We said, ‘If we’re going to have a candy store, we want every person to feel like there is something for them,’” he adds.
The owners work with importers across Europe to source tons of candy. They specialize in Swedish styles, known for their sharp, fruit-forward flavors that are free of additives and dyes and contain less sugar. Customers have already begun submitting requests for hard-to-find candy, and the shop is stocked with many naturally vegan and gluten-free options, with allergens and country of origin clearly marked.
Upon entry, patrons receive a pair of tongs and a Trolley Car-branded paper bag and set off on a walk-around adventure. The concierge-style service is meant to feel inviting, with the owners ready to field and ask questions: “Do you like chewy?” “Want something strikingly sour?” “Craving familiar but different?”
A gummy guide explains the range of textures, from springy, airy marshmallows to soft, elastic-like foam candies; firm and springy traditional varieties; and bold and dense licorice. The premium candy is sold by the pound ($20), and the store also sells prepackaged signature Trolley Car mixes.
Victoria is especially excited for customers to discover new-to-them flavors and textures, and she says her favorites are juicy grapefruit slices and caramel BonBons, while Horsfall gravitates toward the firm yet chewy rhubarb-lemon licorice logs and foamy wild strawberry and pomegranate Bubs candies. Together, they want everyone to find their candy moment, whether they’re a Necco wafer revivalist like Horsfall, a traditional salty Scandinavian licorice fan, a kid scanning for something fresh or a sour lover chasing a pucker.
Inside the shop, a map of Richmond’s historic trolley system and an image of the city’s last trolley car hang on the brick walls. The name is an ode to the city the owners now call home. The final trolley to run in Richmond in 1949 was No. 408; the candy store sits at 407 Strawberry St. Like the shop itself, trolley cars evoke exploration and the delight of discovering something new along the way.
“Candy has lasted the test of time, and candy stores are just easy, it’s familiar,” Victoria says.
In the coming months, Horsfall and Victoria aim to introduce a coffee program and a mobile candy cart, and they envision partnering with other businesses to host in-house events. The pair aren’t just banking on selling sweets, but also the fun feeling of wandering into a candy store for the first time. Speaking to her own childhood, Victoria adds, “I had a corner candy store that was literally a hole in the wall in the Philippines, and that has remained a very core part of my memory. It feels really nice to come full circle on that.
“A couple of people said yesterday that they felt like a kid again” on visiting the shop, she continues. “That’s exactly what we want them to feel, just a brief moment of joy, like being transported somewhere fun and exciting.”
Trolley Car Sweets and Treats is closed for fine tuning from July 6-8 and for a private event July 12-14, with opening hours beyond those dates from noon to 8 p.m. daily and plans for an 11 a.m opening and 9 or 10 p.m. closing by the end of the summer. Check the shop’s website or follow them on Instagram for updates.
