P&J Sweets in Darlington announces opening date

Opening at the Queen Street Shopping Centre, the new store will welcome its first customers on Wednesday, February 11.

Launched as an online business three years ago, P & J Sweets was founded by mum-of-two Amy Hardy.

Amy Hardy with her two children Phoebe and Jasper. (Image: Amy Hardy)

The 28-year-old currently runs the business from home in Darlington, preparing orders and managing stock herself.

She said: “P & J Sweets started as a dream.

“I’d spent countless hours researching all the correct ways to go about setting up an online sweet shop, looking into all the legalities and what was needed to be done on my end, but I never got past the ‘looking into it’ stage.

“In August 2023, when my second baby was three-months-old, I decided just to go for it.

Amy currently runs the business from home. (Image: Amy Hardy)

“I used the £250 I had in my savings account, bought ten different types of pick and mix sweets tubs to store them in and everything else that was needed to get started.

“From there it started to slowly grow.”

The shop will open at the following times:

Opening times

Monday: 10am – 2pm

Tuesday: Closed

Wednesday: 10am – 3pm

Thursday: Closed

Friday: 10am – 3pm

Every 2nd & 4th Saturday: 10am – 4pm

Sunday: Closed

The sweet business has appeared at market hall stalls in and around Darlington (Image: Amy Hardy)

The mum-of-two said none of this would have been possible without the support of her loyal customers.

She said: “It’s the most exciting and terrifying thing we’ve ever done, but the response so far has been amazing.

“The difference is, we’re not just a sweet shop. You can walk into any general shop and purchase sweets. We sell nostalgia.”