April 25th, 2025Ellen’s & Maldon’s little shop of lollies
It’s just on one year since Ellen Gladman took over Maldon’s much-loved Lolly Shop. April 24, 2024 to be precise. So she’s made it through the chocolate rush of her first Easter.
Ellen had been in retail before, was looking for her own business and a bit of flexibility for her work/life balance. And she has always loved Maldon.
“The Lolly Shop was available and ticked all the boxes along with a lot of potential in areas that I have skills for. It was already running very well and people loved it, but I knew I could make a few little changes.”
They included turning a unit out the back into a lovely B&B – using her background in interior design, and decorating the shop by “leaning into the enchanted nature of the business”.
The community “I’ve done it all quietly and slowly. The community was a little worried when I bought the business, just because they love it, but they are happy with the changes I have made. I’m getting good feedback – and have ticked all the things off my list that I wanted to get done in the first year, and then some.”
And while many of her customers are locals, they also come from all over Australia including one-off visitors and people travelling through on business making a little detour for their favourite lolly.
Goldfields
“I also get people from as far away as Darwin – one little boy was in recently and said the shop was stacked – and there was nothing like this at home, and we even get international visitors because people love the Goldfields.”
Ellen said she loves the nostalgic memories her lollies evoke from customers who remember lollies from when they were kids.
Nostalgia
“That’s the bit I love. I love working with the customers and the people. And lollies are a real trigger for nostalgia. You can literally see people finding memories they haven’t had for ages while they talk about their local milkbars or buying lollipops at the pool.
“I even had one woman come in and tell me her family owned a milkbar and she used to run it when she was just 13. It’s lovely to hear all the stories.”
Asked to name her three favourite lollies, Ellen pauses for a moment. Perhaps it’s like naming your favourite child.
Favourites
“It changes all the time,” she says. “I find one and I get into it for a little while and then I’ll change. But at the moment it’s butterscotch that’s made in Ballarat and I can’t get enough of that.
“We also have a maker in Maldon who does our fudges, so second is rocky road fudge with all the biscotti flavours.
“Hmmm. Chocolates would be the dark raspberry bullets, I just tasted them again, and it was, yep, that works well.”
Ellen said unlike many kids she never imagined she would own a lolly shop. Living her best .
“But it’s really lovely watching people, especially kids, come in and their eyes light up. And just this morning I was walking back down to the shop after getting a coffee, and it was quiet and warm and the swallows were diving everywhere and you could hear the rosellas…and I thought ‘I chose well’. This is a lovely place to spend my days.”
Words: Donna Kelly
