'It's a family night' Irish sweet shop all set for sweetest night of year with Toy Show boxes

‘It’s the one night of the year that you’re allowed to sit there and eat sweets until 11 o’clock at night and not feel guilty about it.’

Sweet Boutique Greystones owner Joellen Jordan is of course talking about the official start of Christmas in Ireland, the Late Late Toy Show.

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Like so many of us the mum-of-two has the best memories of sitting in on that Friday night each winter, with her nearest and dearest, gobbling up goodies and watching all of the action unfold on screen.

Pic: Sweet Boutique Greystones

‘When I was a kid it was the same as well, we got our sweets in, the whole family sat on one large couch because we only had one couch at the time, you’ve got your blankets, you’ve got the fire down, some people of the Christmas decorations up.

‘…As a parent, you are [typically] watching what your kids are eating but [during the Toy Show] you’re sitting there munching on the same sweets as well… it is the start of Christmas but it’s also a great family night as well, I think,’ she tells EVOKE.

This year, just as Patrick Kielty makes his first outing in the famed Christmas jumper, Joellen and her other half Alan have relaunched their Late Late Toy Show Boxes for the next generation to share with their little ones.

Pic: Sweet Boutique Greystones

‘In the smaller size, (€10) we always have a bag of jellies, we have the pop rocks, we have a brain licker (a rollerball liquid candy type sweet), it’s blue and it’s sour but the kids are obsessed with it, we have a little Freddo bar in there, then we have the airhead bar, Christmas marshmallows, a candy cane – we always have a candy cane in our Toy Show boxes, and another type of Christmas character lolly.’

The larger size (€40) includes more sweets those of a certain vintage will know including a Dairy Milk and also Mega Mix jellies, bon bons and a Wham! bar among other items.

Joellen and Alan, who founded their sweet shop which at this time of year could give Willy Wonka’s factory a run for its money, 13 years ago and along with keeping our favourite old school sweets in our lives they also scour Europe for more exotic treats.

Pic: Sweet Boutique Greystones

Interestingly but probably not surprisingly, it’s TikTok challenges that are driving the younger generation to their door.

‘TikTok has an awful lot to do with why sweets become so popular, we have a TikTok section on our website, we’ve got TikTok hampers. We always have the retro stuff because that’s our bread and butter but [we also try to include] anything that’s quirky or different, there’s a lot of TikTok challenges, like the hot and spicy crisps or these liquid jellies, we call them our TikTok jellies.’

Another big winner for the Sweet Boutique is Mexican treats. Joellen said: ‘Mexican [sweets] are really, really popular at the moment, because I think you can buy a lot of American sweets in [supermarkets] now… once you can do that, we’re not going to supply it because we are a small family run business so we can’t compete with supermarkets and we don’t compete with supermarkets which is what we do and why we’re still there 13 years later.

Pic: Sweet Boutique Greystones

‘So the Mexcian stuff now, the Takies, the shrinkles, so spicy, they’re so hot you’d think Irish people would be allergic but they are flying out the door.’

Joellen left the corporate world behind to join Alan in the business and has never looked back as she explains being a real-life Willy Wonka is heartwarming stuff.

Pic: Sweet Boutique Greystones

‘It’s a totally different environment, you’re on your feet all day but when you’re dealing with little people all day long and they’re so happy to be in this magical place and you see it every day with kids and adults who say “this shop is gorgeous” and “it’s so hard to choose.” I work every Friday because I love serving the little ones [who come in for their weekly treat] and they take ages to pick their sweets and they’re so happy to be there and it’s not how much they spend, it’s the experience. You know that these kids will always remember Sweet Boutique.’

The Late Late Toy Show Box is available to buy in-store in Greystones but Sweet Boutique has also just launched it’s Christmas selection including its hamper range which is also available to shop online here.

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