Giant gobstopper no match for 'Yer Man' - unfortunately!

This week, for the purposes of writing an article on one of the town's bright new businesses, I was let loose in a confectionery store.

Cue the old 'child in the sweet shop' analogy, but with the added danger that this child has access to a bank account.

Owners of this emporium of sugar-coated delights are Paul and Angela Osborne from the Belfast Road in Lurgan. The business has been open for just over a week and they've already seeing a steady stream of sweet-toothed customers, both young and old.

"We're trying to get a good mix of sweets to suit all sorts," said Angela.

"It's the old favourites that have been the best sellers so far - Raspberry Ruffles, Coconut Mushrooms and the traditional fudge have all had to be topped up."

Other forgotten fancies that Angela and Paul have resurrected include Rhubarb and Custard, Kola Kubes, Pineapple Chunks, Edinburgh Rock, Sports Mix, Midget Gems, Sweet Peanuts, Parma Violets and Sherbet Fountains.

And if you're up for a challenge you should see how many Chili Mints you can keep in your mouth at one time. I managed one.

As well as the jars that adorn the shelves of this homely unit on High Street, Paul and Angela are also stocked up on the 'extreme' sweets that appeal to the next generation of sweet eaters. Sweets that are fizzy, sour, explosive and toxic - the sort of adjectives you'd associate with a chemistry lesson.

To supplement their shelves of sweets, The Sweetie Jar also has some retro gift jars full of vintage confectionery and goodie bags for kids parties.

With the days of imperial measures long gone, the shop prices its jarred sweets by the 100 gram measure, but customers are given a bit of leeway when making their selection.

Paul said: "Kids are coming in and asking what they can get for 50p or whatever they have in their pockets. If we're not too busy we can give them a mix up."

He added: "We haven't got round to tasting all of them ourselves yet. I take a notion for a different one every now and again.

"If someone comes in and they haven't tried something we'll give them a sample. We've both got a sweet tooth and we can usually recommend someone based on what people describe to us."

Personally I'm a sucker for a good sweet cocktail - the juice explosion from a Giant Strawberry infused with the milkiness of a White Mouse, topped off with the crunch from a scattering of letters from the Candy ABCs. Essentially my rule is - bung as many different sweets in your mouth at once until you find the combination to suit your fancy.

I hope my dentist isn't reading this.

Paul continued: "There's a couple of people have come in here and we reckon they're working their way round the jars," said Paul.

It could take a while, Paul and Angela have 185 different varieties of jarred sweets to choose from.

Angela said: "I did a bit of research into the top 100 sellers. I spoke with our wholesaler as well and he gave me his recommendations. We've had a few requests as well and we're trying to track them down."

She explained how the shop came about: "I was working in a chartered accountants but got laid off at the end of September. I knew it was coming, so this is something we'd talked about during the summer."

Paul still works full time as a bread man, but when he's not working he's in the shop to help Angela out.

The Sweetie Jar is open from 10am to 5.30pm from Monday to Saturday, with extended opening to 7pm on Friday nights.

As my sweet odyssey neared its conclusion Angela gave me a sweet which Clint felt would come in handy back at the office - a Monster Gobstopper (didn't last long enough - ED).