Old school candy store coming to Carytown

Rocket Fizz promises 2,000 retro candies and over 500 wacky soda flavors.

September 12, 2014; 10:59 AM • by Trevor Dickerson

Carytown is about to get a taste of nostalgia with an old school soda pop and candy store. A Rocket Fizz franchise is opening soon at 3031 West Cary Street, promising over 2,000 retro candies and 500 glass bottled sodas (including ranch and bacon varieties, among some of the more peculiar flavors), some reminiscent of the candy offerings of 100 years ago.

The storefront is the first in Virginia and is taking over the space formerly occupied by women’s clothing store Caio, according to Richmond BizSense.

“It reminds people of yesteryears,” [owner Patrick Evans] said. “It’s something everyone can afford.”

Evans is a former accountant who lives in Denver and has family in the Richmond area. The Carytown spot will be his fifth Rocket Fizz store. He opened his first in Denver in 2011 and has since added another store there, as well as locations in Salt Lake City and Steamboat Springs, Colo.

“I wanted to do something that appeals to the masses,” Evans said. “It was a way to integrate my kids into my professional world.”

Evans tells BizSense reporter Michael Thompson his kids are, unsurprisingly, his go-to taste testers. Who better to offer feedback on some of the store’s wacky soda flavors like pumpkin pie and coffee?