Changemaker

A changemaker is individually wrapped counter candy priced from a nickel to fifty cents, sold loose from tubs, jars, or trays at the register — named because customers buy it with the change from their purchase. The 280-count Tootsie Roll tub is the archetype of the format. In the wholesale trade, changemakers are ordered as bulk counts (typically 100-400 wrapped pieces per tub) rather than as cased singles, and they earn their counter space twice over: candy already runs among the highest margins in c-store center store (~48-50%), and roughly 63% of candy purchases are impulse buys — the changemaker tub at the register is the purest expression of that math. Classic changemaker lines include Tootsie Rolls and Tootsie Pops, Dubble Bubble, Smarties, Atomic Fireballs, and penny-candy assortments.