Skipper Stovall and Nils Davis own Bites on Broadway and now, Sweet Treats. (Emily Files)

Skipper Stovall and Nils Davis own Bites on Broadway and now, Sweet Treats. (Emily Files)

If the souvenir shops and eateries that line downtown Skagway weren’t sweet enough, the town now has its own candy store. The owners of Bites on Broadway bakery opened their new venture – Sweet Treats – just a few weeks ago.

Nils Davis says the day Sweet Treats opened, kids were lined up outside, armed with wads of piggy bank money.

“They were like banging on the door, like ‘Open the door!’ It was like Black Friday at Walmart,” Davis said.

Sweet Treats. (Emily Files)

Sweet Treats. (Emily Files)

The small store pops with color from the hundreds of candies on display. Skipper Stovall names a few.

“The latest greatest things that I didn’t know anything about are sour belts. And these are multi-colored sour belts…

But what really makes the store unique is one corner, where you can find Pop Rocks, little wax coke bottles, Big League Chew. Stovall calls it the ‘nostalgic area.’

“There’s candies from the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. So everybody can pick out something they had before.”

Stovall says they were able to get the retro treats through a chocolatier with connections. He points out some of the popular snacks.

“We have our all-time favorites: candy cigarettes, which are wonderful, Sugar Babies — everybody loves Sugar Babies, Laffy Taffy, Nerds, Razzles, Crows from the ’50s. These are great.”

The 'nostalgic area,' with candies from decades gone by. (Emily Files)

The ‘nostalgic area,’ with candies from decades gone by. (Emily Files)

The nostalgic candies have proved useful. Stovall says they’ve helped win over some of the doubters.

“I had one lady who told me she really wasn’t happy we were introducing this to their children. And I told her ‘well just don’t bring him in here.’ And she said ‘but he’s gonna see all the other kids with their candy.’ And I said ‘so bring him in here!’ And I said ‘go over on this wall with nostalgic candy and see if there’s anything you know.’ And she said ‘you’ve got Pop Rocks!’ And I said ‘you ate Pop Rocks and it didn’t kill you, it’s a candy store!'”

Stovall and Davis have run the Bites on Broadway bakery for a few years now. They say, they didn’t have some grand reason to open a candy store. They figured that since this building on 6th Avenue was near a park, a candy shop would appeal to children customers.

Treats on the 'candy wall.' (Emily Files)

Treats on the ‘candy wall.’ (Emily Files)

“We sat on the beach in Mexico and talked about it and started thinking of ideas of what we wanted to put in here, how we wanted it to look. And to watch it come to fruition – it’s amazing to watch. It turned out better than we thought it would.”

Davis says operating two small businesses here has taught him that if you have an idea and are willing to work hard to see it through, “anything’s possible in Skagway.”