Candy Shop Near Me at VivoCity: Candy Empire's Last Family-Run Sweet House

Candy Empire's only shop now sits at #B2-03 VivoCity, 1 HarbourFront Walk, two levels below the Sentosa Express platform. It belongs to a family business that has imported sweets into Singapore since 1973, and it is the candy shop near me I would send a visitor heading to Sentosa. On its online shop a bag of Haribo Gold Bears costs S$2.50, so you get a sense of prices before you walk in.

The company's own history begins in 1973, when K. A. Zareena started a confectionery import business that brought brands such as Chupa Chups into Singapore. In 1982 the family opened its first retail counter, Sweet House, at Far East Plaza on Scotts Road. The Candy Empire name arrived after a Changi Airport shop called Pearls was rebranded, and the first store under that name opened at Millenia Walk in 2003.

VivoCity became the flagship in 2006, the year the mall itself opened. Stores followed at 313@Somerset, Changi Terminal 3, Kallang Wave Mall and Suntec City, but the official store locator, updated in September 2026, now lists VivoCity alone. The About page still mentions four outlets, so ignore that line and head straight to HarbourFront. It is still run by the founding family, which is rare in a mall full of chains.

Think of Candy Empire as an importer's showroom rather than a pick and mix counter. Shelves are stocked with packaged European and American brands, plus teas and biscuits that make easy gifts. Online, a 250g box of Merci Finest Selection is S$11.80, a 200g box of Nestlé After Eight is S$10 and a 192g bag of Knoppers Minis wafers is S$8. These are useful benchmarks before you compare the shelf tags.

Chupa Chups deserve a nod, since this family is the reason many Singaporeans first tasted them. A 20-piece pack of minis is listed at S$5 online, though it showed as out of stock in mid-October 2026. My honest verdict: skip the chocolate bars you can find in any supermarket and spend your budget on the gift boxes and European wafers, which are harder to track down elsewhere.

The official locator only says the shop is open until 9pm, while VivoCity's mall hours run from 10am to 10pm. Plan to arrive before 9pm, especially on a Sunday evening when families drift back from Sentosa and the basement corridors fill up. Weekday mornings are the calmest window, and you will usually have the aisles to yourself before the lunch crowd from the HarbourFront offices arrives.

Use the brand's number if you want to ask about a specific product before travelling. The shop is small, so if a school group or tour has just come in, browse the nearby food court for ten minutes and return once the queue at the till has cleared.

The regulars here are easy to spot. Parents stock up on party bags before a birthday, office workers from the HarbourFront towers pop in for a box of chocolates on their way to a dinner, and holidaymakers fresh off the Sentosa Express grab a last-minute souvenir. The unspoken courtesy is to keep your basket close to the shelves, because the walkways between the displays are narrow.

VivoCity is the gateway to Sentosa. The Sentosa Express leaves from Level 3 of the mall, and one stop later you are at Resorts World Sentosa, where Hershey's Chocolate World is a good second candy stop if you have children with you. Doing Candy Empire on the way back means you are not carrying chocolate around a theme park on a hot afternoon, which matters in Singapore's heat.

If you would rather stay on the mainland, VivoCity's rooftop Sky Park looks across to Sentosa and the cable car line, and the waterfront promenade outside the mall makes a pleasant short walk at sunset. HarbourFront MRT station on the North East and Circle lines connects directly to the mall's basement, so the shop is a few minutes' walk from the gantries.

Singapore's humidity is unkind to chocolate. If you are buying boxes as gifts, ask for an extra bag and avoid leaving them in a car or on a beach towel. Wafers, gummies and boiled sweets travel far better than filled chocolates on a long day out. For flights, pack chocolate boxes in hand luggage, where the cabin is cooler than a hold that may sit on a sunny apron.

There is also a plan B if a brand you want has sold out. Candy Empire runs an online shop at candyempire.com.sg, so you can note the product name on the shelf and look it up there later from your hotel or home, rather than hunting through other malls. For a different style of sweet shop on the same trip, The Candy Store at Tanglin Mall stocks viral American and British candy, and is a short taxi ride from HarbourFront.

Candy Empire, 1 HarbourFront Walk, #B2-03 VivoCity, Singapore 098585. The shop lists closing time as 9pm; VivoCity's mall hours are 10am to 10pm daily. Nearest station: HarbourFront MRT (North East and Circle lines). Prices quoted are online prices from candyempire.com.sg in October 2026, and the shelf tags in the shop set the price you pay.