While the outside world waded through bitter troubles, Melissa Gilleon searched for refuge ” and found pure solace inside Powell’s Sweet Shoppe. So she brought the succor to La Jolla.
Five years ago, Michael Powell opened a sweet shop with a different idea. He started a “magical candy wonderland” with different themed areas, a spot where kids could watch Willy Wonka in theater seats and an area where adults could buy toys from their childhood.
“We knew we had something,” said Print Cates, vice president of Powell’s Sweet Shoppe. “We’re bringing it back to the family.”
For the first time, Southern Californians can experience this unique nostalgia. A mother can bring her daughter to 1000 Prospect St. to share memories of her first schoolgirl love ” jawbreakers, lollipops, Razzles and a Marilyn Monroe lunchbox.
The new candy store prides itself on carrying items that spark memories in every customer, from 7-month-old infants to their 70-year-old grandmothers, Cates said.
Cates said the store is about memories and escapism. The shop has many different zones and carries anything the customer wants, he said.
In addition to regular bulk candy and current candy zones, Powell’s has a memory lane zone, a gelato bar, fudge and chocolate bar and retro toys such as wax lips and wooden blocks.
Powell’s prides itself on importing hard-to-find items like old Dr Pepper bottled sodas made with sugar cane instead of corn syrup, which cost $2.25 a bottle and fly out of the store, Cates said.
“It’s like pulling teeth,” Cates said, regarding finding the sodas that he said Powell’s always stocks for its customers.
Owners add to the overall experience with nostalgic toys, including old Western cowboy guns, Rubik’s Cubes, Magic 8 Balls and other toys to spark customers’ memories.
Gilleon, owner of the La Jolla Powell’s, was in the dental field for 25 years. She searched for a business, then after visiting a Northern California Powell’s, she decided to bring the candy store to La Jolla.
“It’s like a chocolate kiss and a warm hug,” Gilleon said. “Not one day have I awoken and said this is the wrong decision.”
Powell’s Sweet Shoppe is located at 1000 Prospect St. The store will celebrate its grand opening Saturday, June 14 with many activities, including Mike TeeVee from the original Willy Wonka movie. Beginning at 10 a.m., the store will give away 1,000 free Wonka Bars. In addition, activities that day will include Mike TeeVee autographs, a bubble gum bubble-blowing contest, a cotton candy-eating contest, a jellybean-eating contest, face painting, free jelly bellies and more.
For more information, call (858) 459-4421.