MARMORA — “We wanted something fun that would make someone smile,” Joanne Kimmins said of Simply Sweet, the candy store and ice cream parlor she and her husband opened recently at the ShopRite Plaza in Marmora.
“Life has its ups and downs. We wanted people to come in, have some nostalgic candy and be happy.”
The colorful and inviting shop sells chocolates, gummies, lollipops, freeze-dried candy, ice cream, fudge, cupcakes, sugar-free candy, chocolate-covered pretzels and other treats.
“It’s been awesome. We were excited to open before the season so locals know we are here. As the season is starting to open, we’re getting vacationers and they absolutely love it,” Joanne said. “We wanted to be different; everything very unique. It’s all about making friends and making people happy.”
The shop carries a lot of candies popular in the past that “trigger a lot of customers,” she said. “A lady let out such a howl because she saw something that reminded her of childhood.”
Joanne said they are aiming to be the largest distributor of freeze-dried candy in southern New Jersey.
“It’s very, very popular right now. We have more than 100 different things to choose from,” she said.
She said the process involves taking a gummy candy and baking it in the oven to take the gum out “and it turns into a puff ball.”
The shop also sells old-time sodas and has a section of pickle-flavored soda, cotton candy and potato chips. They also have toys and gifts.
“There is something for everyone here,” she said.
This is the first small-business venture for the Egg Harbor Township woman and her husband, Brendan Kimmins, and they celebrated their grand opening May 18 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by the Upper Township Business Association.
Brendan, a 1977 Ocean City High School graduate, had retired after 30 years with South Jersey Gas and Joanne lost her job after running a manufacturing company for eight years in EHT, where she assembled tubes, caps and labels for retail products.
“We had two machines and would run 100 tubes per minute,” she said. “But COVID kind of did us in, with components going up in cost. People started looking at other packages.”
That’s when they decided to look into opening their own business.
“I know how to do it. I made people wealthy working for them and I learned a lot, so it wasn’t a great leap for me,” said Joanne, who grew up in West Chester, Pa., and vacationed her whole life in Ocean City.
They said they were drawn to the location due to its foot traffic.
“We had to get the right location. I was taught by my father, who was in business, that location is key. We did not want to be a destination store, because that’s a whole lot harder. Here, with people going into other shops and ShopRite, it was a no-brainer,” Joanne Kimmins said.
Simply Sweet is located in the ShopRite Plaza at 4 Roosevelt Blvd. #10 in Marmora, just across the 34th Street bridge from Ocean City.
Visit simplysweetcandystore.com for more information or call (609) 938-1111.
– STORY by CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
Photos courtesy of Simply Sweet