Historic Old Town Fort Collins recently welcomed The Fort Collins Candy Store Emporium, and the owner Tony Vallejo. After devoting 39 years of his life to interior design in California, he began a new chapter of his life, one full of nostalgic sweets and meeting new people. Every day he opens his doors to Fort Collins and it’s friends yet to meet and after a long day of telling stories, sharing quirky facts, and just connecting with his customers and newly found friends, he says goodnight to the vintage toys and smiling decor about the store and returns to do it again the next day. He has plans for an ice cream parlor and a vintage toy museum within the store’s walls.

Vallejo was searching for something exciting to do in his retirement, besides watching “Judge Judy,” he sais. The store was first located in Cheyenne, Wyoming, but after only eight months, he packed up and moved the store here. He tells this story as if it were a joke, stating, “In 8 months, I took the number two spot on the Wyoming tourism website.” He took over Cheyenne Frontier Day’s spot as the Most Fun Thing To Do In Cheyenne and was quickly on his way when he realized how protective residents could be about their beloved rodeo.

The store’s walls are covered in exclusive candies that you’ve never heard of, ranging from Broadway Strawberry Rolls to a display case full of discontinued candies. There are posters from the ’40s of Coca-Cola advertisements, a Munster’s themed lunch box, and vintage valentines. Tony described, “I love old-timey music, old-timey movies, old-timey cartoons. Like this song playing, they are just sweet little songs that may seem corny…they’re all positive. Happy times are here again,” he stated.