JACKSON HOLE, WYO – Salted chocolate peanut butter cotton candy, mango lassi taffy, hibiscus sugar and rich chocolate truffles: Mursell’s Sweet Shop is what sweet tooth dreams are made of.
The Gaslight Alley storefront, and former location of Mursell’s Pottery and Chocolates, opened on Thursday as John Frechette and Christian Burch’s newest venture. The candy shop joins the couple’s other ventures MADE and Mountain Dandy.
Colorful candies pop against the stark white and navy paint and a glass case houses a seemingly endless amount of chocolate truffles, creams and treats.
“We wanted to make it a magical location,” said Sara Nicholson, manager of MADE, Mountain Dandy and now Mursell’s.
The shop was remodeled in May, after longtime owner Mursell McLaughlin died in the spring. Frechette said he wanted to keep the spirit of McLaughlin alive, but relied on his youth to reinvision the space. The new coats of paint are reminiscent of the New England coastal candy shops of his childhood. Walking in feels like you’re transported into an alternate old fashioned candy shop.
But it’s all about the candy, Nicholson said, which is both plentiful and affordable. Her face lights up when she talks about the different sweets around the store as a sort of Willy Wonka tour guide: “try the peanut butter and jelly cotton candy,” “look how beautiful the brownie batter truffles are.”
Customers coming in during the first weekend have been awe-struck with the old fashioned favorites and inventive new candies. Families have been ecstatic over the throwback boxes of candy cigarettes and old timers are elated with the options of Abba-Zabas, Valomilk, Big Hunks and Necco wafers.
“It’s been really fun to see how excited people are,” Nicholson said. “People walk in and they love it.”
Nicholson is traditional when it comes to her sweets, preferring a black lava salt caramel over a fruity treat. There are local products from Persephone, regionally sourced honey sticks from Lovell along with Belgian chocolates, Icelandic candies and British biscuits. You can find gummy bears packaged by color and cinnamon chocolate bears in Mursell’s packaging. Oklahoma sourced truffles can be mixed and matched for $2 each and most of the artisanal sweets run under $10.
Nicholson, who attended culinary school and has a passion for sweets, said it’s no surprise she ended up running a candy shop.
“It makes complete sense for me to be surrounded by sugar all day,” she said.
The candy shop is open noon to 8 p.m. daily. at 125 N Cache Street. More sweets at www.Mursells.com.
