The Little Popcorn Store

 

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1

TINA J.

Carol Stream, IL

Awesome takes me back to when i was younger, my kids beg me to go they love it!!!! People there are nice and its not expensive!!! I dont know how they make there popcorn but its really good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Elite '08

5

143

Stacey D.

Schaumburg, IL

I love the popcorn store! From the charming front door, brick interior, tiny alley-like shop, and penny candies.

You can get a small bag of goodies you can't find anywhere else, and some things you can get at your local Walgreens. But it's somehow more special when you get it here. One thing that always creeped me out was how the kid would dump out the bag of candy (which is largely unwrapped), count it with his hands, then take cash. Next customer walks up, repeat. No hand washing between. Why it bothers me, I dont know. Since I fish the same money out of my wallet, and stuff my face full of sour peaches and popcorn.

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9

133

Sara F.

Chicago, IL

This is a place of my youth.  My mom knew an owner and even worked her for a bit. A solid memory of penny candy and popcorn for the geese at Northside Park.

However, now we know popcorn is bad for geese and they don't sell it anymore and the also don't sell penny candy anymore. :-( They lose a star for that....the penny and nickle candy is where it was at...their popcorn is still good and the nostalgia of this place always makes my heart smile.

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Elite '08

77

353

Christine B.

West Los Angeles, CA

I love how this place is so narrow, so if you've indulged too much candy, you may not be able to squeeze inside.  As a kid, one of my favorite things about growing up in Wheaton, was stopping by to fill up a small, white paper sack with candy before I headed to the movie theater with my friends.  Yes, there can be a long line, and yes, little kids are all this place, but it's a candy store!  If I ever go back home for a visit, I'll be with them, trying to pick out that perfect sucker . . .

Fizz Wizz or Fun Dip, anyone?

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12

19

JP P.

IL

OK, so, lemme break it down to you, Wheaton super-moms: This is a hole-in-the-wall. It's a dying breed of Americana; the corner shop that has served generations, surviving the loss of fellow institutions (like the 'Round the Clock diner) and the development of new ones. Yes, your stroller might not maneuver with ease, and there's gonna be lots of sniffly four-year-olds rooting through the candy bins, but this place is _special_.

To wit: My fondest childhood memories are of The Popcorn Shop, when my parents would let me pick out a little bag of candy, and then we'd head around the corner to The Wheaton, when it was still a first-run movie theater (holler at seeing "Ghost" there).
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I'm nearly 30 (wah) now, and you best believe I'm gonna bring my own kid to the Popcorn Shop to scoop some wafer UFOs and paper dots out of its bins. So, if you can't appreciate the history of the Popcorn Shop, I'm sure there's some other candy store that will accommodate your oversized, overpriced stroller.

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2

57

Hal C.

Chicago, IL

This is one place I hope never closes down.  I've been going here as long as I can remember to get popcorn, candy, soda- and it's always been great.  It's a place that actually had PENNY candy in my lifetime(they don't anymore), which is really strange to think about now living in the city.  The closest thing to a bad experience I ever had here is when they ran out of the candy I wanted- everything besides that has been all good.

Oh yeah, and Bill, the owner, is a really nice guy.

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11

29

Becky M.

Oak Park, IL

I love the Popcorn shop (as us Wheatonites call it)!! Growing up with this place in your neighborhood was the best! I still get cravings for candies that I have only seen there.  The store and the owner are stapeles in Wheaton.  If you're in the downtown you have to stop by.  Don't get scared by the lines or the little kids, that's part of the fun.  They do have really great salted popcorn.

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8

147

Robyn C.

Wheaton, IL

Great popcorn but annoying as Hell trying to get in and out of it as it's just a long corridor.  No, really.  We're not kidding, it's a 4-foot-wide corridor that was walled in.  

We love the corn but we look at the line coming out of the store and say the Hell with it, not worth it.  Mary J. is right, kids love it, but we all know what that means...pushing, shoving, waiting for a four-year-old to pick out the perfect sucker...  

If it's empty/near empty and/or you have infinite patience and a have a taste for good popcorn, go.  Otherwise, do yourself a favor and buy a Whirly Pop, the best popcorn maker ever made.  But that's for another review...

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Elite '08

6

386

Emily C.

Naperville, IL

Built between two alleys, this is a claustrophobe's worst candy nightmare - and I hate people.
This place is always packed, smells great, but the candy ain't cheap.
I just don't like that many germs with my sugar.  When in the area we go here for the smile from my son, but otherwise I hit Nuts N Sweets - only about twice as wide, and more expensive, but less shoving and sniffling.

It does get really slippery in here too, so be careful.

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Elite '08

19

271

Mary J.

Wheaton, IL

This is a unique LITTLE place.  No stroller will fit in here and if you are coming after school, try not to feel claustrophobic.  It literally was an alley that was made into the shop.

That being said, this place has all that cool penny candy that you can never find in stores.  Mary Janes, Bit O Honey, BB Bats, Mini malt balls, those bubble gum cigarettes (they were there last time I was, I know they're politically incorrect), it's all there.  Grab the little white bag when you walk in the door and start stuffing it with your goodies.  

This place is called the Popcorn Shop because they make fresh popcorn and sell it by the bag.  REAL popcorn and boy is it good.

Enjoy a nice spring/summer day be getting some popcorn, a bag of candy and go across the street to relax, look at the fountain and watch the trains go by.

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