New store a treat for candy lovers.

Reprinted from :The Catonsville Times

11/29/07 By Marcia Ames

The term "Penguin Poop" may not trigger an appetite.
But it certainly grabs shoppers' attention at the Little Sugar Shack in Catonsville.
And in the few seconds needed to scan the label, they identify the product as chocolate-covered almonds.
The candy store, at 821 Frederick Road, opened in mid-October. offering a mix of sweets, including Snowman Poop, tiny marshmallows packaged with a hot chocolate mix, as well as other standard fare.
As winter approaches, store owner Dawn Hoffman said she expects both oddly named goodies to sell as quickly as more traditional candies.
Although young customers, such as Hoffman's 6-year-old son, Caleb, prefer the cotton-candy-flavored ice cream, "with adults, it's chocolate," she said, pointing to a display of hand-packed chocolates made by 115-year-old Asher's Chocolates in Pennsylvania.
The Little Sugar Shack occupies the east corner of Craig Witzke's Strawberry Fields at Catonsville retail complex, in the 800 block of Frederick Road.
"I'm very glad to see new retail coming to Catonsville," Witzke said, noting that he chose Hoffman over other potential tenants who wanted to use the space for offices.
The store's name comes from the 1963 Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs hit "Sugar Shack," one of her favorite tunes.
But the Elvis Presley posters she has tacked to the walls have nothing to do with the song or with candy.
"I just like Elvis," said the West Virginia native, who moved to Catonsville's Paradise community about three years ago.
Because another Maryland corporation already had the name Sugar Shack, she added "Little" when incorporating her business earlier this year.
A single mother who studied the hotel-restaurant business at Anne Arundel Community College, Hoffman has worked in restaurants since moving to Maryland 15 years ago.
Little Sugar Shack accurately describes her first independent venture, a one-room store that is small, at 400 square feet, but packed with a plethora of sweets.
She carries a few salty foods, such as popcorn, but sugar clearly dominates the scene.
Although the song referred to a coffeehouse, Hoffman offers sweeter beverages such as sodas and the packaged mix for preparing chocolate milk.
Hoffman planned a grand opening for Saturday, Nov. 24, but the details are pending.
Over the next few weeks, she will add gift baskets and other goodies to serve the winter holiday trade.
The store is open daily except holidays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday; noon until 5 p.m. Wednesday and Sunday; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday.