By Heather Mallows
Candy stores in Centretown are tasting success by enticing sweet-toothed shoppers with unique chocolates and candies.
“We want to carry candy that is a little harder to find, that you can’t just pick up at 7-Eleven,” says Audrey Favreau-Manzie, manager of Sugar Mountain on Elgin Street.
Sugar Mountain opened in October and has since enjoyed brisk business, says Favreau-Manzie. She attributes the store’s success to its distinct style.
Going into Sugar Mountain is like going back in time. Board games and posters from the ‘70s and ‘80s line the walls and sugar-craving shoppers can pick up old favourites like Pink Elephant popcorn, pixy stix, bottle caps, ring pops, bonkers, and wax lips. There’s even an entire wall dedicated to Pez.
“People come in here and go through total nostalgia,” says Favreau-Manzie. “It’s the candy they ate when they were kids.”
The strangest candy? “Well, we had some chocolate crickets and worm larvae,” says Favreau-Manzie. “We’re sold out of it now.”
Sugar Mountain caters to candy-lovers of all ages. It attracts students from nearby Lisgar collegiate institute as well as office workers who stop by on their lunch break.
There’s also the bar crowd. Sugar Mountain stays open until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights in order to satisfy night owls longing for lollypops.
Over at the Candy Bouquet on Bank Street, owner Jocelyne Lamarche says her store thrives because it offers a one-of-a-kind product.
Lamarche creates the look of flowers with candy. Instead of petals, delicious candies sit atop each stem.
“I try to be different,” says Lamarche, who imports her candies from France, Germany, Greece and Brazil.
Lamarche moved her three-year-old store from the Glebe to Centretown in November in order to take advantage of increased pedestrian traffic.
Lamarche says the move, along with some imagination and hard work, has made the Candy Bouquet blossom.
A chocolaty constant in Centretown is Morrow’s Nut House on Sparks Street.The store is 64 years old and its latest owner, Ron Bradette, says coming to the Nut House has become a tradition for some of his customers.
Bradette, who has owned the store for the past 12 years, says his sweet secret to success is how the candy is made.
Bradette and his one employee make all the chocolates, nut clusters, truffles and fudge in the store, all fresh and without preservatives.
“We’ve had the same recipes for 40 years,” he says. “And we’ve been making the product here on the premises for more than half a century.”
Bradette says Morrow’s Nut House, like the Candy Bouquet and Sugar Mountain, survives because it offers unique merchandise.
“You can buy candies and chocolates today in almost every store in the city, even Canadian Tire” says Bradette. “But I think people notice the difference when they’re handmade.”
The candy stores are looking forward to a busy month ahead. “February is like two months in one,” says Bradette.