An old-fashioned lolly shop where you can buy by weight has just opened in the heart of Wollongong and celebrating with free ice-cream.
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The Lolly and Scoop Shop on lower Crown Street has an abundance of candy from wall-to-wall and is also the Illawarra's first "scoop shop" for Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream.
Children will be able to get one free cone from the store on Saturday November 6 and Sunday November 7 from 12-4pm, unless sold out.
"I just like the joy that it brings people," said co-owner Liz Zalunardo.
This is the second sweet venture for her family after they gave a Willy Wonka-style makeover to a Kiama gift shop in 2020.
The Wollongong store is just as colourful, with dozens of different lollies to make your own mix, as well as international delights like mocha M&Ms, Jolly Ranchers and Pokemon cereal. The back part of the shop will also function as a convenience store.
The initial COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 caused some challenges to get the Kiama store open, as did the most recent lockdown with the Wollongong store originally scheduled to open in June.
But Mrs Zalunardo rose to the occasion, reminding herself of her childhood dream of one day being a lolly-shop Queen.
"Even when times have been tough and I've been like 'oh gosh this is hard', I just remind myself of the dream that I had as a child," she said.
"A lot of people laugh at 'oh, you wanted a lolly shop?' It's a good reminder to kids, it doesn't matter what anybody says, nothing is unrealistic if you honestly believe in it."
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