Mountain View is in for a treat — a whole new store full of treats, in fact.

Packed with dozens of varieties of handmade custom candies, classic favorites, and assorted other sweets, Sweet Creations Lollipop Boutique is one of the latest businesses to open doors in the neighborhood.

Owner Missy Simms made it for the kids. 

“I wanted to make it neighborhood friendly,” she said, surrounded by lollipop displays and bright shelves of candy the week before her grand opening in the Mountain View Plaza. “I wanted it to be sassy but not too classy, you know? I wanted everyone to feel like they can afford something, they can find something, and for the kids to feel like they have a nice place to go, and it doesn’t need to be in a mall or out of town.”

Music drifts through the wall from the barbershop next door. Simms, previously a hairdresser, said she first crafted custom sweets for a baby shower celebrating the birth of her nephew. Then she made more — for more baby showers, birthday parties, holidays and other special occasions. Handmade lollipops became full gift baskets and custom candy jars. In 2018, Sweet Creations blossomed into a full business. Simms’ nephew is now 15, and she’s preparing to open her first storefront. 

It’s inspired by the candy shops of the South. From childhood days in New Orleans, Simms remembers abundant candy trucks and neighborhood candy stores and even a local woman known as the candy lady. So years later, when she began dreaming about creating something similar in Anchorage, she wanted it to be close to kids and sidewalks and a school, she said. Mountain View Drive fit the bill. 

She moved into a space in the Mountain View Plaza in the fall, painted the walls in bright colors and filled the shelves with sweets. She created matching logoed t-shirts and mugs and face masks and other gifts. She spent days scanning and labeling, managing inventory, adding social distancing decals and installing equipment. At night, she made more candy: Chocolate-covered pretzels, turtles with caramel and pecans, chocolate-covered marshmallows, “anything you can cover in chocolate,” she laughed. And now it’s almost time: The shop is scheduled to open 11 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. seven days a week beginning Dec. 4, with an online store and curbside pickup available. It’s located at 3503 Mountain View Dr.

There’s something for everyone, but Simms keeps one kind of customer particularly close to heart. 

“I hope it makes the kids happy,” she said. “I made it for the kids.”