A sweet new storefront

Cottontail Candy, LLC will host the grand opening of its new storefront next Saturday, Aug. 16, at 2803 Packerland Drive, Suite 15.

Although this will be the businesses first storefront, Cottontail Candy has been making cotton candy in the community for the last two years.

“We started in June of 2023…” said Rhonda Richlen, who founded Cottontail Candy with her son Brayden. “I wanted a family business that I could start up, that wouldn’t cost a lot of overhead and that we could use the automobiles that we have. So, I came across cotton candy. My son Brayden had always wanted a cotton candy machine and I never gave it to him, so when I approached him he was excited and he said, ‘Sure, let’s do it.’ And we’ve had fun ever since.”

Before settling into their storefront, Cottontail Candy was a traveling operation, spinning cotton candy live at events throughout the community.

“For the past couple of years, we’ve usually done markets — for example, the Titletown Night Market on Thursday nights and Howard Commons Music and Market on Monday nights,” said Rhonda. “We’ve done art fairs like the Sturgeon Bay Arts Fest and Appleton Art in the Park. We do charity events and birthday parties on the side… Just various events throughout Northeast and Central Wisconsin.”

But when Rhonda wanted Cottontail Candy to be able to offer pre-packaged cotton candy and cotton candy cakes in addition to spinning live at events, state licensing regulations meant the businesses needed a commercial space.

“In order to pre-package cotton candy we needed a commercial facility with a three-compartment sink, so we had to rent a building to do that,” Rhonda said. “To live spin cones, which we started out doing, you just need a transient license in Wisconsin, so that wasn’t a problem. But we wanted pre-packaged containers as well for when it was humid because humidity and rain don’t mix well with sugar and cotton candy. So we rented a commercial facility and we found struggles. It’s a financial strain. You have to make a lot of money in order to pay the rent.”

Cottontail Candy’s new storefront will feature more than 30 flavors of cotton candy in containers, custom cakes spun on-site in its commercial kitchen and some new savory offerings.

“It’s not just cotton candy we’ll be selling,” Rhonda said. “We have over 30 flavors of cotton candy and we also do cotton candy cakes and glitter bombs, where you put them in a drink and then glitter comes out and it makes the drink all pretty. And we also do savory popcorn now.”

Knowing how difficult and expensive it can be to rent space for a business, Rhonda and her husband Wil-Michael, who will manage the store, will also open Cottontail Candy’s new storefront to local vendors.

“We wanted to offer that opportunity to other businesses that logistically couldn’t run a [storefront] themselves and also needed a space,” Rhonda said. “We found vendors that we have sold with at various markets and we offered them the opportunity to sell their products in our store.”

Local vendors will include Valley View Rustic Creations, Whimsical Works, Jolted LLC, Kindred Krafts by Katie, ShelbyLou Designs and Five Feathered Crafts.

Wil-Michael said he’s looking forward to being able to provide storefront space for vendors who might not be in a position to run their own brick-and-mortar establishment, as well as providing the community an opportunity to shop from several local creators all in one place.

“I think a big benefit will also be offering the community several different varieties of art like pottery, jewelry and vinyl t-shirts,” he said. “We want to make it like a one-stop gift shop for people. We’ll have baskets available. If they need a gift for somebody, they can come and put a basket together so they don’t have to shop at large chains and instead support the artisans that are in the community.”

Those interested in checking out Cottontail Candy’s new storefront are invited to the grand opening on Saturday, Aug. 16, with free cotton candy cones available from 1-6 p.m. and popcorn samples available throughout the day.

Cottontail Candy will also continue offering live cotton candy spinning for events such as weddings, birthdays and corporate gatherings.

For more information, visit cottontailcandy.com.