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Canberra Today 15°/19° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Sweets with the flavour of nostalgia

By Tamara Junor

SOME Canberrans, it seems, have a sweet tooth for old-style, English lollies.

“People in their 50s and 60s come in and they spot a lolly that they haven’t seen since they were a young boy or girl,” says Rod Giles, of the newly opened Billy Bean’s Chocolate and Sweet Shop.

The snug, little store at Bailey’s Arcade, in Civic, hasn’t been around long, but its range of sweets and confectionery date back to the early ‘40s.

“We don’t stock anything that [other stores] stock, which are standard Australian sweets, because they’re plentiful everywhere. We just try and sell English sweets and unusual sweets – that’s the idea,” says Rod.

“We mainly sell retro sweets, but we have gourmet chocolates as well.”

Billy Bean’s stocks 85 different brands of retro jarred sweets and sells everything from Swizzels Matlow Giant Fizzlers to Fry’s Chocolate Cream Bars.

The wide selection of jarred lollies allows customers to mix-and-match between old and new sweets.

“We get customers saying: ‘Oh, do you remember that lolly?’ If they know the name, we’ll try to get it in store for them,” Giles says.

More information at 6162 1638 or www.billybeans.com.au

Tamara Junor is a work experience student from Alfred Deakin High

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