Whimsical candy shop relocating to downtown Brighton

BRIGHTON — Candy shop owner Mandy Tamborini says magical friends will join her when she moves Spun Sugar Shoppe to downtown Brighton early next year.

There's "Flossy Von Sparkle," a life-sized stuffed animal unicorn, and "Annabelle Pop-Tart," an ostrich stuffed animal. They were named by children who won contests at Tamborini's location near South Lyon. She's still deciding exactly what to take to Brighton and what to leave behind.

Tamborini is relocating the candy retail shop to a suite inside 213 W. Main St. After the holidays, she'll renovate the space with sweets and some of her fanciful décor. The business sells cotton candy products, other candies and children's toys.

Tamborini is holding on to the South Lyon storefront at 10630 Rushton Road in Green Oak Township, but it won't be a candy store after Christmas Eve. She first opened the shop in 2020 to sell her Spun Sugar Detroit products, which she launched in 2016.

What's now a sales floor for candy and toys will be converted into an event space for birthday parties and other gatherings. Tamborini will continue to spin cotton candy from the commercial kitchen in back, fill orders and prep for events.

But, as a Brighton resident, she's excited to move the shop downtown across from the Mill Pond.

"I want everyone to have the magical experience, but in a smaller space," she said of the new Brighton location.

Tamborini usually has between 15 and 20 flavors of cotton candy (made with organic sugar) ready for sale on any given day. The shop also has a cotton candy making machine, plus chocolates, gummy bears and ice cream.

Firecracker-flavored cotton candy is her top seller, Tamborini said. The flavor is a mixture of blue raspberry, Pop Rocks and Nerds. She also makes cotton candy cakes and "glitter bombs" to drop into a drink, among other creations.

The current location is whimsical. A brightly-colored bust of Marie Antoinette has an ice cream cone/cotton candy hairdo. A larger jawbreaker dispenser sits near the entrance. Most of the shop is pink.

Tamborini wants the Brighton shop to "spark wonder" in the eyes of little boys as often as it does little girls.

"Maybe less pink," she said.

She founded Spun Sugar Detroit out of a shared commercial kitchen in Redford. At first, she focused on selling cotton candy from vintage mobile carts at private and corporate events. Her twin sister Megan Young, who lives in Waterford, helps her manage those events.

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Tamborini hopes to receive more weekday foot traffic by relocating to Brighton.

"We've been a destination on weekends," she said. "In Brighton, we'll probably be open seven days a week."

She hopes to open by Valentine's Day.

— Contact reporter Jennifer Eberbach at [email protected]. 

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Whimsical candy shop relocating to downtown Brighton