MONROE - Popcorn, candy, root beer and malts - sweet delights for any kid, no matter the age - are making a comeback on the Square in downtown Monroe.
Kristi Smith, Monroe (and Chicago), leased the candy shop on 16th Avenue and 11th Street late last month. The building formerly housed Ruf's Confectionery, which closed in March. The candy store had been on the same corner for 108 years.
Smith expects to open the shop under a new name, Rainbow Confections, after mid-August.
"I'm a third-generation entrepreneur," Smith said. "When I see a business that I think can make it, I want to have a hand in it."
The spirit of the former Ruf's is still the same, and so are the antique glass display cabinets and the Liquid Carbonic Company marble soda fountain bar.
The floor will be new, though, and so will the fresh caramel corn-making machine Smith is setting up in the front window.
"We'll have caramel corn, cheese popcorn and a flavor-of-the-week popcorn," Smith said. Her favorite is pesto popcorn - seasoned with garlic, basil and parmesan cheese.
Smith plans to market the popcorn flavors with unique local names, and cheesemakers will certainly have one named after them.
"But no Limburger popcorn," she laughed.
Cotton candy? "I used to think cotton candy came in two flavors, blue and pink," Smith said. "But we'll be able to make 16 different flavors."
Why so many kinds? "Just for having fun," she said.
Blumer's root beer will be on tap, and other soda flavors will be available in bottles. So the Rainbow Confections shop will now deliver what the old Liquid Carbonic Company advertised, "...it isn't medicinal, won't cure anything ... isn't intoxicating or habit-forming - it's just flavory, fruity, snappy, sparkling, delicious."
"We can make a float any flavor you want," Smith said, "we'll just take a bottle off the shelf."
"And at Monroe's request, we will have malts - and shakes for those who prefer those," she added.
Of course, the "penny candy" will take their duly appointed places in the display cabinets, along with fudge. Smith hopes to eventually make the fudge in the store.
Smith said she and her husband visited Green County about 11 years ago and stayed at the Inn Serendipity. They kept coming back, and little by little fell in love with the area, with hopes of retiring here. Six years ago, they bought a home on Wisconsin 69, just south of Monroe, as a sort of weekend vacation retreat, while continuing to work in Chicago.
"Our jobs were there, but our hearts were here," she said.
Smith said she hated to see the confectionery shop shut down, and since her job isn't geographically tied to Chicago, she ventured outside of her current computer field businesses and into the candy business.
Rainbow Confections is on Facebook (filter by Places), where Smith is taking requests for candies to be stocked, posting pictures and job opportunities, and announcing the shop's exact opening date.
Kristi Smith, Monroe (and Chicago), leased the candy shop on 16th Avenue and 11th Street late last month. The building formerly housed Ruf's Confectionery, which closed in March. The candy store had been on the same corner for 108 years.
Smith expects to open the shop under a new name, Rainbow Confections, after mid-August.
"I'm a third-generation entrepreneur," Smith said. "When I see a business that I think can make it, I want to have a hand in it."
The spirit of the former Ruf's is still the same, and so are the antique glass display cabinets and the Liquid Carbonic Company marble soda fountain bar.
The floor will be new, though, and so will the fresh caramel corn-making machine Smith is setting up in the front window.
"We'll have caramel corn, cheese popcorn and a flavor-of-the-week popcorn," Smith said. Her favorite is pesto popcorn - seasoned with garlic, basil and parmesan cheese.
Smith plans to market the popcorn flavors with unique local names, and cheesemakers will certainly have one named after them.
"But no Limburger popcorn," she laughed.
Cotton candy? "I used to think cotton candy came in two flavors, blue and pink," Smith said. "But we'll be able to make 16 different flavors."
Why so many kinds? "Just for having fun," she said.
Blumer's root beer will be on tap, and other soda flavors will be available in bottles. So the Rainbow Confections shop will now deliver what the old Liquid Carbonic Company advertised, "...it isn't medicinal, won't cure anything ... isn't intoxicating or habit-forming - it's just flavory, fruity, snappy, sparkling, delicious."
"We can make a float any flavor you want," Smith said, "we'll just take a bottle off the shelf."
"And at Monroe's request, we will have malts - and shakes for those who prefer those," she added.
Of course, the "penny candy" will take their duly appointed places in the display cabinets, along with fudge. Smith hopes to eventually make the fudge in the store.
Smith said she and her husband visited Green County about 11 years ago and stayed at the Inn Serendipity. They kept coming back, and little by little fell in love with the area, with hopes of retiring here. Six years ago, they bought a home on Wisconsin 69, just south of Monroe, as a sort of weekend vacation retreat, while continuing to work in Chicago.
"Our jobs were there, but our hearts were here," she said.
Smith said she hated to see the confectionery shop shut down, and since her job isn't geographically tied to Chicago, she ventured outside of her current computer field businesses and into the candy business.
Rainbow Confections is on Facebook (filter by Places), where Smith is taking requests for candies to be stocked, posting pictures and job opportunities, and announcing the shop's exact opening date.