M&M World made its appearance in downtown Topeka March 28, and people can’t stop talking about it. Around 20 people waited outside the stone eagerly to see what the buzz is about.

John Guilfoyle, a volunteer at M&M World and manager at the plant, says the store is in town to celebrate the grand opening of their plant in Topeka. In honor of the celebration, they want to share it with the community by opening  the pop-up store for a period of two weeks. 

“We are thrilled with the response that we have gotten from the community. I couldn’t give you a number of how many, but it’s far exceeded our expectations,” said Guilfoyle. 

The building is small so they have an employee outside to keep track of how many people come in and out, and only allow about 75 to 100 people in at a time. 

“We try to keep the crowd under control as much as we possibly can and ensure that we get the best experience for the customer,” said Guilfoyle.

The store has many options for customers; there is a wall dedicated to custom blends that are based on the local area. These include the Kansas University, K-State, Washburn, Wichita State, Topeka High and Topeka West blends. Other colors of M&M’s are available for customers to mix and match as they like.

“Most importantly, what we have is ‘Made in Topeka’ branded items. Anything you can buy in the store that says ‘Made in Topeka’ we are donating all the proceeds to the downtown Topeka Inc. revitalization project,” said Guilfoyle.

Merchandise, such as clothing, board games, coin purses, mugs, blankets, shoelaces, refrigerator magnets and other things, are also sold. 

The stores hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. 

They had special extended hours April 4 for First Friday as part of the Topeka Arts Community walk and were open until 8 p.m.  

Anne Gardiner, a junior art history major, went a few days after the opening and said she left with some key rings, a T-shirt, ear buds and Jayhawk M&M’s. She was disappointed the store had sold out of all the “Made in Topeka” items.

“I’m very excited M&M World is here in Topeka and I hope they continue the store past the two weeks they planned,” said Gardiner. 

M&M World opened March 28 and is scheduled to close April 13