HALLOWELL — Scrummy Afters, the popular Water Street candy shop, is going mobile.
Co-owners Kim Davis and her daughter Hilary Davis recently purchased a toy hauler and plan on bringing their candy store experience to fairs and other events around the state as early as April.
“The opportunities for us are endless,” Kim Davis said. “There really won’t be a limit to what we can do.”
The expansion of their business has been in the works since the mother-daughter duo opened at 136 Water St. five years ago.
The upcoming reconstruction of the downtown corridor was the catalyst to get the idea moving, Kim Davis said, and the owners hope money earned will help offset any potential losses sustained during the project.
“I think everyone is a little apprehensive and unsure of what the construction will look like,” Kim Davis said. Business owners have expressed concern that the extensive construction will result in a significant loss of business, especially since the bulk of the work will be completed during Hallowell’s busy summer season.
The Maine Department of Transportation will reconstruct a 2,000-foot stretch of Water Street, which is also Route 201, beginning in April and expects to complete the bulk of the work by October.
The candy shop owners expect to spend the next few weeks fine tuning their plan and turning the toy hauler, which they bought in Gorham for about $5,000, into a mobile version of their Hallowell business. Kim Davis has been submitting applications to municipalities for vendor licenses and making contact with groups around the state, from fair operators in Litchfield and Windsor to the Great State of Maine Air Show in Brunswick.
“It’s a lot of work, and I’ve got our applications out,” she said. “We’ll try to avoid going to places where there already is an established candy business.”
They hope to have a smaller vehicle before the end of the year that they can take to private events such as weddings and birthday parties. They said they want to use the mobile business to bring people to Hallowell.
Hilary Davis is the face of the business, her mother said, so she’ll be the one operating the mobile candy store most of the time. The brick-and-mortar business runs on autopilot because of a well-trained and trusted staff, which will give the mother and daughter the opportunity to spend a considerable about of time focusing on the mobile business.
The vehicle will have bright colors and designs. The inside will give customers a similar experience to shopping at the physical location in Hallowell.
Jason Pafundi can be contacted at 621-5663 or at:
jpafundi@centralmaine.com
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