Sticky Fingers has a magical environment and unique options

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Alex Smith

The front window of sticky fingers, which just adds to the overall aesthetic of the place.

Just around the corner from a store that I enjoy very much—Rebel—is a new store that just opened in Eastown: Sticky Fingers.

When I heard the name Sticky Fingers, I was so confused. I thought it would be a restaurant, however, it was not that at all. It is actually a candy and stationery store owned by the same men as Rebel, and I knew immediately that I was going to love it.

When I walked in, it was like being transported into Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The walls were painted fun colors, the floor blue and orange, and there were so many multi-colored shelves lining the wall. It felt magical, and I was so giddy the second I walked in.

Since I am who I am—a lover of stationery—I immediately made a beeline for the wall full of pens, paper, washi tapes, and so much more. The colors all popped out, and I didn’t know what to look at first.

I started with the washi tapes. There were two big containers full of the colorful tape, and I spent forever sorting through them trying to settle on two types. The first one I chose was a dark blue with planets on it. The second one had stripes on it in shades of pink, blue, and gold. I have so many rolls of washi tape already, but these two are so different from my other ones. They have different textures, and they stick better to paper.

The next thing that I picked from the stationery wall was a pen. The pen was gold, and I picked it at first because I thought it would write in gold. However, I realized as I was trying it out later that it does not in fact write in gold. It writes in black, like most other pens, but I still really like it. It doesn’t write as smoothly as I would have hoped, but it is unique compared to my other pens.

When I walked in, it was like being transported into Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

— Alex Smith

On the stationery wall, there were a bunch of sticker sheets. I am obsessed with stickers, so I immediately was drawn to the ones on the wall. After much debating, I finally picked out two.

The first one was very unusual, as it had to do with food. There were a bunch of brightly colored bowls of ramen, tubes of hot sauce, and fortune cookies on it. I am absolutely enthralled with ramen. It’s one of my favorite meals, so I immediately picked that sticker sheet without much thought.

The next one was based on snails. It had flowers, snails, ladybugs, and little stamps that said “snail mail” on them. I picked this pack because they were super colorful and gorgeous. Also, I hate snails and bugs, so I thought it was funny that I really enjoyed these stickers. I haven’t used them yet because the packaging is so pretty that I haven’t wanted to take them out.

There was a shelf in the shop full of chocolate bars that had different “moods.” I picked one out based on the flavor, not the mood. I got a milk chocolate and caramel bar labeled “blah.” I thought that these bars were hilarious, and I wanted to get one of each so that I could have one for every emotion I felt. All of the moods had a different color, and mine was a bright green that I was definitely not attracted to; however, the flavor eventually won me over, and the mood fit how I feel a lot of the time.

The final thing that I purchased at Sticky Fingers was a bag full of bulk candy. All around the store, there were giant buckets of candy set out and labelled “bulk.” You could take a paper bag and fill it with one pound of the bulk candy for $5.99. I’m not a huge fan of candy, but I got a bag anyway for the days that I felt like I need something sweet. There were so many options, and while most of them were “grandma” candy, there were some that I had never heard of before.

There was also an option to buy everyday candy bars that you can get at most stores, but the thought of it coming from a cute place like Sticky Fingers makes it much more enjoyable. The ambiance of the shop was happy and cheerful, and I am definitely looking forward to going there again to stock up on more candy and stationery.