Creative Candies owners hope new WH location will lead to sweet success

Creative Candies owners Katie and Keith Tijerina

Feeling like a "kid in a candy store" isn't hard to do when you enter Creative Candies. Even those who are more "young at heart" than young can recapture that feeling by sampling the store's vintage candy selection.

Owners Katie and Keith Tijerina opened their store last week at 428 Hwy. 110 North in Whitehouse after relocating from Tyler. They opened the Tyler store last September, but Keith says the road construction was affecting their business and they decided to move their business to Whitehouse, or rather back to Whitehouse.

In the earliest days of operation, the couple operated their business out of their Whitehouse home, but quickly outgrew that setting.

Creative Candies is a candy store, but with a twist. In addition to selling a huge variety of popular contemporary candies, the store also stocks as many vintage and hard-to-find favorites as they can.

"We try to find the most unique ones. We're always trying to increase our stock," said Keith.

In addition to the candies they sell, the Tijerinas also offer the

Custom designs, such as this candy train, are a feature of the Tijerinas' business.

services of candy bouquets for

all occasions, including special

orders to meet any customer's request.

They fulfilled an order

placed from Kansas City

to make a candy train

(see photo below)

and shipped it to

Portland, Ore.

Another special

design was a

t h r e e - f o o t

praying mantis

for a Tyler

karate club.

"Anything we've

been asked to make,

we've made," said

Keith. "If you can make a

three foot bug, there's not much left to stop you."

The Creative Candies shop also offers kids a place to hang out and parents a party room for birthday get-togethers. Birthday packages include renting the facilities only, or having Creative Candies design special party cakes and favors.

The store hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. For a sampling of candies and a look at some of the original creations, check out the web site at www.creativecandies.net.