The glass soda bottles fill the shelves with flavors like cookie dough, peaches and cream, butterscotch and even pickle. The sodas, along with the plethora of candy that looks like something from Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, come from around the world, offering unique tastes and aromas.
“It is just an insane amount of candy,” said Bill Sallaga, who recently purchased Rocket Fizz and moved it to a new location at Miromar Outlets.
The first Rocket Fizz Soda Pop and Candy Shops opened in Camarillo, Calif., in 2007. There are now 103 shops around the nation. Sallaga owns 16 of them, including five in Florida.
“The whole idea is it is meant to be a time capsule,” Sallaga began. “The theme and the décor is retro, and it is meant to take you back to your childhood.
We carry old- fashioned types of candy. But what really sets Rocket Fizz apart is our soda. We have more than 400 varieties of glass bottled soda, and we bottle over 100 different types of our soda, including weird things like bacon flavored, pickle flavor and cheesecake.”
Paislee Rennard, 9, of Ohio, enjoyed exploring Rocket Fizz in Estero.
Sallaga is proud to list all the places around the world that his soda and candy comes from. It is shipped here from Korea, India, Australia, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Dubai, Canada and many more locations.
The store owner says Miromar Outlets was the perfect place to open a franchise because of the location and the ability to move the shop to a new place within the outdoor mall. The new corner store offers windows on both sides to display the goodies that lure customers into the store.
“I was just walking around, and when we walked by, and I saw all the stuff, I said, ‘We have to stop in before we leave,’” said Kameron Baab, a visitor from Ohio.
Baab stocked up on a variety of taffy, along with some chocolate.
“I like all the options,” he said. “There are so many different candies, from traditional to more trendy. There are some of these sodas I had growing up.”
SALLAGA
His wife, Allison Baab, was excited about the things she found. She grabbed candy called Five Nights of Freddy, named after a video game.
“They have rock candy. I love it,” she said. eir daughter Paislee Rennard, 9, got
Th some banana-flavored taffy and a slime burger.
“I like all the candy,” Paislee said.
Sallaga said the biggest sellers in his stores change all the time.
“The biggest seller is whatever is trending on TikTok,” he explained. “Keeping up with this is interesting. It was not like this 11 years ago when I got my first store. Right now, the Dubai chocolate is really popular. It has a pistachio cream filling in the chocolate bar. Also, the Swedish licorice is really popular. You never know what it will be next week.”
Justin Holmes often comes to Rocket Fizz to get his candy fix.
“It is really unique,” Holmes described. “There are a lot of options. There is nothing like it in the area. The soda options are unique. They have things you can’t find anywhere else. I got a malt soda. It is just such a unique store for the area and there is such a variety.”
Kameron Baab found candy cigarettes in the store. He said it was something he remembered from his childhood.
The variety is stacked high on every shelf. Rocket Fizz sells more than 80 flavors of saltwater taffy. There are items like After Shocks popping candy, Kit Kats from Asia and shelves full of a variety of Krabby Patties. Gummy Aids look like colorful band-aids. Giant lollipops swirl with rainbow colors and sit on top of several shelves. There are treats with names like Toxic Waste, Soda Can Fizzy Candy and WarHeads.
Another shelf is dedicated to things that might look familiar but come from around the world, such as Oreos and Frosted Flakes with character lettering from Korea. The list of candy is just endless.
This emporium of all things sweet and weird has everything from nostalgic candy adults remember from their childhood, hard-to-find treats and unique candy to novelty sodas, quirky toys and humorous gifts.
The owner says the very unusual glass bottled sodas from around the world are very popular.
“If it is made, we carry it,” Sallaga concluded. “We have a shocking amount of stuff from around the world.” ¦
Bill Sallaga is the new owner of Rocket Fizz at Miromar Outlets in Estero. ANDREA STETSON / FLORIDA WEEKLY
