The best lemons-into-lemonade story we've heard in a while belongs to Michael Minnis, who opened a business in the same Mesa strip mall where he was once ordered by the state to submit urine tests for a drug arrest. "I had to piss at the TASC [Treatment Assessment Screening Center] office next door," Minnis says, "and I saw this building for rent." His store, originally called the Soda Pop Stop, has evolved from a utilitarian storefront that peddled soda, bottled water, and snacks to the TASC's pee-in-a-cup crowd to a Valley destination for rare and hard-to-find sodas and snacks. Pop's Exotics, as it's now known, services a growing subculture that will pay a premium for white peach Sunkist from China, honey chili Doritos from South Korea, squid-flavored Lays from Thailand, and ketchup-flavored Cheetos from Canada. It's also a go-to for what Minnis calls "nostalgics" and what some of us refer to as granny-candy: Clark Bars, Chick-o-Sticks, Sixlets. Minnis has also distinguished himself as a savvy internet marketer. He had a few posts blow up earlier this year on TikTok, where he has 125,000 followers and counting.