?Come with me, and you’ll be in a world of pure imagination.? These lyrics from the 1971 film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, is the first thing I heard as I walked into Powell’s Sweet Shoppe.

Established in May 2008 in Windsor, California, and located by the Sierra Vista Mall, this old-fashioned candy store brings customers down memory lane, remembering classic candies they begged for as kids.

Owner Scott Smith started the candy business with his sister Bridgetta in order to relive his favorite childhood delicacies.

?You see this Fun Dip?? I picked it up one day, and I started thinking back to my childhood and how good it was,” Smith said. “That’s when I got the idea of opening a candy store that could trigger the customer’s memories of being a kid.?

As I looked around the store, hearing the customers say, ?I haven’t seen that since I was a kid!? I felt Smith fulfilled his goal.

?I like it when someone comes in for the first time, and their eyes get big and you can tell it’s their first time in the store,? Smith said. ?Also, when the customer is enjoying the store, laughing, and acting ‘like a kid in a candy store.’?

Janine Lee, customer at Powell’s Sweet Shoppe, says she often shops at the store for her two daughters, Maddie, ’10, and Jenna, ’11.

?I went to two gift exchange Christmas parties, and there were two gifts that both came from Powell’s,? [Janine] Lee said. ?It has a lot of old-fashioned stuff I got when I was a kid. But I came here to get the Jones things [Jones Soda Co. Carbonated Candy?] that I saw on Food Network.?

As I walked down the endless bulk mix-in-match candy and Jelly Bellys? on the wall, along with candy brand pillows on top. Nothing but whimsical songs about sweets and sugars played throughout the store.

In the rear of the store Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was playing on a big flat screen TV. Beside the TV was a signed picture of Paris Themmenm, who played the role of Mike Teevee in the movie. Along with that and other pictures of the cast members were Wonka bars?, the movie poster and Willy Wonka t-shirts hanging on the walls.

With a huge case of so many chocolates that someone could only find at Powell’s, I saw a soda case filled with old-fashioned glass soda bottles.

Customers’ favorites include Brain Wash?, Jack Black’s Dead Root Beer? and Leninade? from Russia. Smith says that the teenage favorite is Faygo?. After hearing this I decided to give this popular sweet a try. I chose the vanilla cream flavored, and it was probably one of the best cream sodas I have ever tasted. With a perfect amount of sweetness, I definitely understood why that brand of soda was a favorite.

Of other popular items, such as Jawbreakers?, Sour Belts? and Sour Gummy Bears?, the staff members says that their favorites are the coconut hay stack and coppa mist gelato flavors.

The store is decorated for every season and is currently decorated for Christmas. In addition to tradition lights and streamers, I was not expecting an upside-down Christmas tree hanging in the corner and a huge floor to ceiling nutcracker by the entry.

Along with the upside down Christmas tree, I noticed other odd, old-fashioned candies and merchandise surrounding it. There were far too many sweets to count, far more than I ever expected to see in a local candy shop.

Of the inedible treats, I saw lunch boxes, posters and a Pucker Powder Candy Art machine.

Standing in the midst of such a dreamlike candy store, I imagined I was a part of the era when candy cost a mere 25 cents.

For more reviews, visit Danielle Ricchiuti’s Dec. 19 article, Fancy furnishings enhance deli.