Exeter - Uptown Sweets

Every great Main Street needs a candy store like Uptown Sweets in Exeter. The shop’s candy-coloured sign invites in children of all ages, and the candy-filled interior is sure to have a sweet little something for everybody. From classic candies likes Swedish Fish and Nik-L-Nips to experimental limited edition Cuban Sandwich potato chips, Uptown Sweets caters to every sensibility.

 

If you’re into the oldest of old schools, there’s Taveners Fruit Drops or Mint Humbugs. Into the rad world of in-your-face 90s candy? Try mind-blowers like Warheads or Pop Rocks. Razzles, Runts, Tangfastics, Starmix and Picklepops are just a few of the many confections available. There is also a vast assortment of saltwater taffy, store-made popcorn and many flavours of cotton candy. Can’t do sugar? Zero-sugar candies and chocolates are available!

 

Owner Lisa Johnson may be skilled at keeping up with all the latest candy trends like freeze-dried Skittles and popping boba, but she thinks that sometimes the old ways are best. The shelves behind the counter hold a rainbow of glass jars, each one containing a different ‘penny’ candy that can be yours for a nickel, dime or quarter. A tangled zoo of gummy animals inhabit one jar, an orchard of sour peaches contained in the next. 

 

The holiday season is the busiest time of the year for Uptown Sweets - traditional holiday sweets and stocking stuffers abound, and Johnson also does assorted candy platters (or candy charcuterie) for events and cotton candy machine rentals. 

It’s hard to believe that this modern day Wonka was working as a paralegal until the pandemic drove the industry online. As a longtime fan of all manner of candy stores, it only took a ‘For Lease’ sign in downtown Exeter to convince Johnson that it was time to open her own little shop, and things have been going great since then. She believes in the feelings candy can evoke, from nostalgia to new joy.

 

If you’ve been missing a childhood favourite or in the market for a sour new obsession, stop by Uptown Sweets in Exeter - it’s probably there waiting for you! 430 Main St. S., Exeter