Life

The taste sweet of the old favourites at The Ole Lollie Shop

This is a place where young eyes widen with wonder and older eyes are taken back to a time when they could buy a big bag of lollies for six pence.

There is so much to take in as you step through the doors of Old Petrie Town’s, The Ole Lollie Shop.

Lynne Argent, the owner of the shop, says they can be in the kitchen up to 10 hours a day to meet demand for seasonal sweet treats. “Christmas and Easter are the busiest times of the year. We start preparing two to three months out — anywhere that’s airconditioned in the kitchen is stashed full of chocolate Christmas trees or whatever,” Lynne says.

Lynne says she would be lost without her sister, Kay Brown, Kay manages the Petrie and Redcliffe stores and is her partner in the chocolate kitchen, as well as her brother-in-law Gordon who works tirelessly to create the magic.

“Its uniqueness is it’s all hand done,” Lynne says. Taking over from the previous owners about 10 years ago They’ve been at it for about 10 years, taking over from the previous owner and starting tentatively with basic confectionery before creating their own fudge, nougat, peanut brittle, honeycomb, rocky road, caramel bars and so much more.

Luckily none are tempted to ‘eat the profits’.

“You actually get over it. When we’re making our version of the poly waffles, we make Kay’s husband Gordon try the marshmallow now. I still taste the fudge because you just have to try it to make sure it’s the right texture,” Lynne says.

And it’s Lynne’s lemon meringue fudge they name as their favourite. “It’s just how I remember our nanny making lemon meringue pie. Of course I can’t do the meringue top, so I make it look like meringue,” she explains.

The Shop and their sweet treats are hot favourites with people of all ages.

“It’s all about what you remember when you were young and what your grandparents used to have,” Lynne says.

“We’ve been asked a few times if they can have overnight stays. We tell them ‘yes, we’ll weigh you on the way in and we’ll weigh you on the way out and we’ll charge by the gram’.”

The Ole Lollie Shop

Address: Old Petrie Town, Dayboro Rd, Whiteside

Online: Search The Ole Lollie Shop on facebook