If you aren’t having a nice day, you could have a sweet one at Incense & Peppermints on 48 Main Street. When you enter the iconic retro candy store, you are greeted by shelves full of colorful candy and something even more magical: a 10% discount for Colby students.
Malcolm Porter and his husband, David Spinney-Porter, opened Incense & Peppermints in 2020. But it wasn’t always a candy store.
“We’ve been here for 12 years, but we first started as a tea store,” Porter said. He began in healthcare before realizing “how broken the system is.” Porter wanted to switch gears and do something that inspires him. “I was also a clinical herbalist and doing herb blends for tea was part of what I did, so I thought it would be a really good fit to start a tea store.”
Porter continued running his “niche” tea business until a friend told him, “We need a candy store down here [in Waterville].” He recalls, “She kept after me for months until finally David and I talked about it and agreed to do it.” So on Jan. 24, 2020, Incense & Peppermints finally opened.
The store’s motto, “Have a sweet day,” started with an unexpected interaction with a customer. Porter shares an anecdote: “I had this one gal who worked with us, and she had a customer who was just really nasty to her. She said to him, ‘Have a nice day,’ and he turned and said, ‘Well, what if I don’t want to have a nice day?’ She then asked if we could start saying, ‘Have a sweet day.’ That’s how it started.” The phrase stuck, and staff now use it when saying goodbye to customers at checkout.
For Porter, candy making is his creative outlet. His father was a chef for more than 50 years, so creating has always been part of his nature. At Incense & Peppermints, he is a chocolatier who makes fudge, chocolate pops, and specialty truffles. He also creates custom treats for special occasions. “Usually around graduation time, I’ll do school color truffles. So, like, I’ve got mule truffles.”
Haley Hegarty `28, visits the store for Porter’s chocolate, and she says, “Incense and Peppermints is such a cool candy shop with many great options. I love how the owners decorated their shop, and their chocolate truffles are amazing.”
Porter’s interest in candy making connects to his undergraduate studies in biology, with an individualized major in chemistry and mathematics at the University of Maine at Farmington. “And people don’t realize it, but, you know, when you’re making candies, there’s a lot of chemistry associated with it,” he adds, “I always had an interest in chemistry or in sciences as a general rule. So [the candy store] really kind of worked out very well.”
When asked about his favorite candy in the store, Porter joked that choosing one was like asking a parent to pick a favorite child. “Now, have you ever asked your parents who their favorite child is? So this is what you’re doing to me right now,” Porter said. But he eventually settled on fudge: “If I’m going to sneak something, it’s probably fudge.”
Customers may be surprised by some products offered alongside the store’s traditional sweets. The store carries the “Flaming Anus Chocolate Bar,” a novelty chocolate bar with 2.2 million Scoville units. The bar comes in an outhouse-shaped box, and the name refers to the chili’s intense heat. “It literally says on the box, ‘Burns twice,’ because it’ll burn your mouth and then the next day… it burns other areas,” Porter said.
Beyond candy, the store carries Carrabassett Coffee and espresso-based drinks, as well as honey and maple syrup from local producers, Maine-themed gifts and crafts from local artisans, sweatshirts, T-shirts, and ice cream.
“We’re a lot more than people think,” Porter said. He hopes more people, particularly college students, will discover the variety of products the store offers.
However, running a small business comes with challenges. Porter said the economy has made it harder for some customers to justify buying candy. “Some people are making tough choices, and candy is usually the first thing they cut.” Advertising and maintaining the store’s social media presence are also ongoing challenges.
Most importantly, Porter is proud of the atmosphere the store creates for customers. “When people come into candy stores, they’re usually happy, or they’ll be having a bad day on the outside and come in, and next thing you know, they’re having a good day,” he said. Porter enjoys seeing customers take their time, browsing the shelves for 20 to 30 minutes. “We love having that happy, positive energy in the store. And that’s honestly the best part,” he said.
Looking ahead, Porter’s main goal is to keep the business going. He also hopes to keep growing the store so he can eventually spend time on a food truck. A candyman’s advice to young adults is simple: “Always follow your dreams or your passions.” Porter stresses, “Find something you love and do it as your career.”
~ Summer Woo `28
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