The Competition is Cooling Down Between Oxford Yogurt and Candy Shops

Michael Quirk

JOUR 271

Sept. 27, 2012

Sweets Shops

426 Words

            OXFORD, Miss. – Holli’s Sweet Tooth, a candy and ice cream store on the Oxford Square, has been Oxford’s hot spot for annihilating sugar hankerings since December 2006. Founded by Holli Ratcliffe and her husband Andrew, the sweets shop sells Blue Bell ice cream, candy, cakes, and specializes in Blue Bell milkshakes and sundaes. Co-owner Holli Radcliffe said that the store hopes to cater to all types of customers.

            “We have customers from 1-99, families with children 3-13, and college students are our largest consumer groups.”

             Oxford’s population has been steadily growing, and so has the amount of dessert stores in the area. In the last four years, Oxford has added three frozen yogurt shops: Bop’s and Twisters off Jackson Avenue, and Yaya’s on the Square. While the new stores pose competition to the decadent sundaes and milkshakes of Holli’s Sweet Tooth, Ratcliffe said that they have seen an increase in revenue in each of the past five years.

            When I asked Ratcliffe if the increased amount of customers has changed the hours, marketing, or products that they sell, she told me that they are still doing the same thing that they’ve been doing for seven years during the same hours. She did concede that they have a larger staff than in years past to accommodate the crowds.

            Across the parking lot from Twisters is another new establishment, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Famous for their caramel apples, the Durango, Colorado company has locations throughout the United States and Canada, including three stores in Mississippi. While they are a candy company, co-owner Gail Miller believes that their product is not in the same market as the other places in Oxford.

            “We are the only gourmet chocolate shop in Oxford,” said Miller. “We do sell Blue Bell ice cream, but our apples and our chocolate are the only of it’s kind in town.”

            Despite not viewing other dessert stores as competition, Miller said that the company faces a challenge that places like Yaya’s and Holli’s have not had to face, location.

            “We are a chain, so if people have heard about us, it helps. With our location, it’s hard for people to know that we are here. We’ve got radio and newspaper ads, Facebook and Twitter pages, to try and let people know where we are.”

            Ratcliffe and Miller told me that the new amount of shops is good for Oxford because each has their own niche. It is good to see that a business world that is typically sour to competition is sweet for a change.