News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Emadison Shearer, left, takes a candy order from Carol LaFleche, center, and Patsy Shooks while at work at LuLu’s Candy Shop in downtown Alpena on Wednesday. The new candy store will offer fresh, nostalgic, and modern candy.

ALPENA — A new candy store that recently opened in downtown Alpena is sure to satisfy any chocolate or sugar craving.

LuLu’s Sweet Shop has a wide variety of fresh candies and nostalgic and modern-day treats, and the inventory of the new store continues to grow daily.

Rusty Petunias Marketplace owner Laura Shearer decided to open the new store after she placed some of the candies in her gift shop to see if they would be popular. She said it didn’t take long to see there was a demand for a place to purchase candy downtown, and she decided that when a space became available downtown, she would pounce.

As luck would have it, the neighboring business at the time, Soaps and Such, decided to change locations, and Shearer quickly moved on the available property to open her new business. She said she is confident it will do well and is already seeing a high level of excitement about the candy store.

“It didn’t take long to see it was a no-brainer and just made sense to open a location,” she said. “The candy store is one of the first places people go. People love candy and never feel guilty about buying it.”

The growing inventory of candy includes brands that will remind people of their childhoods and appease others who prefer a modern brand-name candy bar. Shearer said over the next several weeks, the shelves will continue to fill up and the selection of sweets will expand. She added that there will also be a pop machine for people who want to wash down their candy. Shearer said it will also be a bit out of the norm.

“We will have very unusual and very unique pops for sale, that are cold or warm,” she said.

Shearer said later this year, she wants to open up a kitchen in some of the extra space in the rear of the store and allow people a place to rent it to bake their own goodies and food. She said they will also be allowed to sell their products in LuLu’s.

“They can make their goods and sell them here, and I won’t make any money from the sale of them, only the rent from the kitchen,” she said.

When asked why she elected to go with the name LuLu’s, Shearer said it is a special name and one that seemed to fit the store, and as a way to pay homage to her grandmother.

“That was a name my grandma gave to me,” she said. “She has always called me LuLu because she said I was a little bit crazy. I just thought LuLu’s fit.”

Shearer said that because the store is still in the soft-opening phase of operations, there are no immediate plans for a grand opening event. She said once all of the other candies arrive, and there is more stock on display, there will be something.

“It may not be anything big, and it won’t be too soon,” she said. “But, I’m sure we’ll do something soon enough when the timing is right.”

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 or sschulwitz@TheAlpenaNews.com. Follow him on X @ss_alpenanews.com.