Welcome to Three Reasons, a new online column that tells you exactly what you’ll find at various stops around St. Louis. We won’t just tell you that a new restaurant has opened, we’ll tell you what to get there. We won’t simply report that a festival is happening this weekend, we’ll tell you what parts of it truly can’t be missed. Consider them recommendations or think of them as simple suggestions. Either way, here’s three reasons to go. You may have already bought a few bags of Halloween candy to hand out this Sunday. And, sure, you promised yourself you wouldn’t open them and start noshing early. Like that ever works.
Now that you’ve plowed through the mini Butterfingers and Heath bars you were going to give to the trick-or-treaters, it’s time to re-stock. But this Halloween, you don’t have to settle for the grocery store variety pack. St. Louis is lucky to have three new specialty candy shops that opened this year and, while you probably don’t really need an excuse to stop by and regress back to the days of juvenile candy-jonesin’, here are three reasons to hit up one of these indie spots for your candy cravings in lieu of your neighborhood Schnucks or Dierbergs.
1. Miss M’s Candy Boutique in The Loop has plenty of retro candy (Long Boy coconut caramels, anyone?) and current faves. The shop has a nice selection of branded non-edibles like M&M jewelry, Tootsie Roll socks and these super-cool purses made from woven candy wrappers. Miss M’s also carries a nice array of sugar-free options, organic chocolates and a number of chocolate-dipped candies behind the counter. This Saturday, Miss M’s will host a Harvest Celebration complete with face-painting and balloons from noon to 4 p.m.
2. Oh Lolli Lolli in Clayton is a tiny shop, but what they offer in the dozens of bulk bins that line the store is pure happiness. When you step into the store, you may be reminded of Spicer’s Five and Dime in Ladue, which used to have a “penny candy” section of small items that drove kids wild. Oh Lolli Lolli offers an astounding collection of licorice, gummy creatures, taffy, dipped chocolates, retro candies, sour gumdrops and on and on. To give you an idea of how much variety is in this veritable Wonkaland of fantasy, the shop offers gummy butterflies in not one but two sizes – because they can. This Saturday, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., Oh Lolli Lolli will welcome the popular Bubble Bus, which parks and proceeds to fill the air with millions of joyous bubbles.
3) Just Around the Corner in Webster Groves is a homey space with an amazing selection of old-school candy that you likely haven’t tasted in ages. We’re talking Sen-Sen, Turkish taffy, CupoGold, U-No, Sky Bar, Big Hunk, Curly Wurly, Abba-Zaba, Valomilk and Zotz, among many other familiar goodies. Don’t forget the dipped chocolates, the cane sugar sodas, the party room in the back, and a selection of novelties including chattering teeth and the indispensable switchblade comb.
This article appears in Oct 1-31, 2010.