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21
Feb
Traditional sweet shop to open in Knaresborough
A £30,000 ‘traditional’ sweet shop is set to open its doors to the Knaresborough public in April.
Mr. Swainston’s Sweet Emporium will be based on Silver Street.
The company has a store in South Shields which it opened in May last year and stocks more than 300 jars of sweets, ranging from pick and mix to more traditional sweets.
The interior is designed to look like an old-fashioned sweet shop with staff dressing in period clothing that would have been worn by sweet shop workers in the 1950s.
The shop has over 300 jars of sweets.
John Gray, co-owner of the shop, told the Stray Ferret why they chose to open a new store in Knaresborough:
Our shop has been very popular in South Shields, and we have been looking to open a new one for a while now.
We have a few friends who live in Knaresborough. When we visited them, we were so impressed by the location and the beauty of the town. We knew that the setting was perfect for our new store.
We think it will be a great addition to Knaresborough. We offer a very traditional take on sweet shops that will feel like stepping back in time.
This isn’t just a sweet shop, it’s an experience.
The business is currently a family affair. Mr Gray and his partner, Sean Robinson, own the shop whilst Mr Robinson's mum, Julie Robinson, and their daughter, Jamie-Lea Gray help to run it.
The Swainston's staff. From left to right: Jamie-Lea Gray, Julie Robinson, Sean Robinson, John Gray
When the Knaresborough store is open, Mr Gray said that he and Mr Robinson are going to commute to Knaresborough to run the shop.
Mr Gray said they wanted to “meet the people in Knaresborough and really establish ourselves in the community.”
Sweet shops are having something of a renaissance. The Stray Ferret recently reported the opening of a ‘quirky’ new sweet shop in Harrogate. Another one also opened just off Skipton Road in New Park recently.
Mr Gray explained why the sweet industry seems to be on the rise:
The sweet markets fluctuate massively.
I think TikTok has a big part to play in this and the trends in sweets. TikTok inspired the popularity of American candy and the new trend of freeze-dried candy.
We try to set our own trends though. We work closely with manufacturers to try to bring back sweets that inspire memories.
There used to be a type of sweet called Frosties, but they were discontinued years ago. We worked with a manufacturer to bring them back under the name Frost Bites.
Sean Robinson (left) and John Gray (right) with the owner of the original Swainston's, Barry Swainston (centre).
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