Regardless of the many reasons customers may have come to Sweet Shack Candy Shop, co-owner Jackie Washington said she hopes they all walk out with a smile.
“We wanted it to be a fun place that made people happy, which is easy to do with a candy store,” said Jackie, who owns the shop with her husband, Winefred. “Nobody comes in here [grumpy], or if they are, then they’re not when they leave.”
The shop, which opened in 2014, sells bulk candy, more than 50 flavors of saltwater taffy, a variety of nostalgic candy, novelty sodas, milkshakes and locally made products.
“I think people really like that we have such a choice,” Jackie said. “You can get as much or as little as you like.”
Popular locally made items include No Cow Chocolate, which is vegan and dairy-free; gourmet flavored popcorn from Reel Popcorn in Austin; and Stumpy’s chocolate-covered marshmallows. Stumpy’s owner Hamid Yazdanpanah said Sweet Shack was the first retailer to carry his product, which is made in Cedar Park.
Todd McKimmey of Cedar Park, who often visits the shop several times a week, said he enjoys the wide selection of sodas, especially root beer.
“But what keeps me coming back ... is that they also have a variety of candy I haven’t seen since I was a kid.”
Jackie said much of the shop’s inventory has been built on requests from customers looking for a specific candy or soda they remember from childhood.
“If we can get it, we try to. That’s how we filled our store,” said Jackie, adding that future plans include continuing to expand the inventory and adding online sales.
Sales assistant Lizz Stippick said she enjoys seeing people discover childhood favorites in the store.
“It brings them back to that really happy place of being a kid and seeing that candy again,” Stippick said. “No one is sad in a candy store.”
Sweet Shack gives back Fundraising opportunities are available to schools and nonprofit groups from the Cedar Park and Leander area. • Receive 25 percent of bulk candy sales from 3-8 p.m. on a designated Monday. • Apply at www.sweetshackcandy.com.
Sweet Shack Candy Shop
200 S. Bell Blvd., Ste. F-2, Cedar Park 512-551-8092 www.sweetshackcandy.com Hours: Mon.-Thu. 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Closed Sun.
