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Inside scoop: Lola’s Sugar Rush

YUM DROPS: Just a sampling of the dozens of jars of candy and sweets at Lola's Sugar Rush.

Asking Lola Salazar to pick her favorite candy is like asking a mother to name her favorite child — it’s an impossible task.

Just today, I’ve had chocolate caramels, cinnamon bears, orange creams. I’m tasting all day,” says Salazar, owner of Lola’s Sugar Rush, the ultimate sweet shop in downtown Littleton. “I like everything with sugar. I really believe sugar is a major food group. I like all things chocolate, but I like sours too.”

Lola Salazar, owner

Opening a candy store was Salazar’s dream since she was five or six years old, which isn’t too surprising given that her parents nicknamed her “Sugar” as a baby. Her first record? Sugar, Sugarby the Archies, of course. “My parents thought it would be cute since that was my nickname,” she says.

Step inside the stylish strawberry- and chocolate- striped shop and you can’t help but smile. Your eyes will widen, your mouth will water and your inner Charlie Bucket will have you craving Wonka Bars before you know what hit you.

“When Willie Wonka came out, I remember my friends thinking the Oompa Loompas were so scary, but I loved the movie because of the look on Charlie’s face when he first walked into the candy factory,” Salazar says.

Before opening her shop, Salazar, a Denver native who has lived in Littleton for more than 15 years, spent time as an elementary school teacher and in the non-profit world. She says she always knew her dream business would have the name Sugar in it and that it had to be in a specific location.

“I was working in an office in downtown Littleton, and I always drove by Main Street,” she says. “I knew I wanted to open a store there, but it had to be on a corner. So I waited. It took a long time for the right space to come open, but to me, the success of my store is being on a corner so people can easily walk up or park their bikes on the side of the building. When the space did come open, I thought, if I don’t do it now, I might not ever do it.

“My kids are older now, and I wanted them to realize that no matter how old you are, you can live out your childhood dreams. I wanted to show them that it wasn’t just me talking. I was going to do it.”

With the store’s launch in April, plenty of people asked Salazar why she would dare to open a new business in this economy.

“For me, this is the perfect time,” she says. “Because the economy is so bad, everyone deserves something sweet to make themselves feel good. I see people come in, and they find a nostalgic candy or an ice cream cone or cupcake and it just lifts their spirits. … I think that’s why we’ve been so successful. People are in here all the time and I think it’s because we aren’t just like another candy store at the mall. We’re an experience.”

SWEET EXTRAS: Cupcake-shaped soaps

The experience includes walls lined with glass jars filled with every kind of bulk candy you can think of: Jordan almonds, lemon drops, salt water taffy, mint wafers, Necco rolls, Now and Laters, Chick-O-Sticks, Atomic Fireballs, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Bit-O-Honey, Swedish fish, flying saucers.

There’s bulk chocolate: white chocolate pretzels, turtles, dark chocolate nonpareils, chocolate rocks.

There’s more candy: candy buttons, lollipops, Pop Rocks, Chase’s Cherry Mash, Necco Sky Bars, Mallo Cups, Old Faithful Peanut Clusters.

There’s ice cream ($2.50), cupcakes ($2.50), rum cakes ($5).

The top sellers: Wonka Bars for kids, candy cigarettes, cinnamon bears, wax bottles with liquid inside, circus peanuts.

The adorable, yet still sweet, non-edibles: Truffle candles ($1.99), candy mirrors ($7.99), ice cream shaped soaps ($7.99), lollipop fizzies ($4.99), cupcake magnets ($2.49), ice cream pens ($3.99), candy lip gloss ($2.99) and ice cream-shaped manicure sets ($8.99). And, of course, there are the nostalgic candies. Look Bars, Black Jack gum, Boston Baked Beans and so much more.

“When I was a teacher, kids would always laugh and giggle and now I get to see that again in my shop,” she says. “The kids see a candy store, but the adults see memories. That really tugs at my heartstrings. It’s almost like they’re buying so they remember those good memories they had growing up.”

Nostalgia, in fact, has been a big draw for customers to visit the store, Salazar says.

One man saw an ad for the store and drove from Parker to collect eight packs of Fizzies. “If someone wants it, we do whatever we can to find it,” she says. “We have a sweet suggestion list, and try to get those items in the store.”

So, with all that candy at hand, how does Salazar manage to keep herself from looking like Augustus Gloop?

“I’ve actually lost weight since we opened,” she says. “I guess because I’m on my feet all day. I call my girls who work with me my sugar babes. They’ve all restrained themselves from eating. But I can’t say that. I need a Sweeties or Tutti Fruttis. A cinnamon bear will hold me off for hours. But I do taste everything that comes in the store, so if someone asks about a certain candy I can tell them exactly what it’s like.”

If you’re in the store browsing, and the staff seems close, it’s because they’re Salazar’s friends and family.

“We were all neighbors at one time, but have been the closest friends for 15 years,” she says. “There’s a group of 12 or 13 of us and eight work at the store. They don’t really need to work, but they want to be here because it’s such fun place to be. We laugh all day. My husband jokes that I never want to go home because I’m with my friends all day and the number one thing I like to do is eat sweets.

“This isn’t a job. This is my dream.”

Lola’s Sugar Rush, 2490 W. Main St., Littleton (303) 797-7874, www.lolassugarrush.com

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