SugarBOOM owner Kate Ashby opened the doors to the store on Saturday, before which people were forming lines down Albany St.
“We weren’t really sure what to expect, but so many people came, so many students came over.
“That was amazing.”
Mrs Ashby opened the store digitally in 2022, operating it from a website and Instagram account.
During that time she had opened many pop-up stores, including at the Meridian Mall and Alexandra Blossom Festival.
She was always “hopeful” that a physical store would be opened one day, she said.
“I just wanted to maybe have a small business so I could fit things around my kids at school … We looked into it, and then thought, well, maybe we’ll give it a go.”
They had viewed buildings in George St, but most were too small for the business and its needs.
“We just needed something that had a bit of space for doing our packing and for storing all our stuff.”
Freeze-dried candy was the most popular product, with freeze-dried skittles being the most sought after of those, she said.
ben.andrews@odt.co.nz
