Lolly shop in idyllic Tilba hits the sweet spot

“My son had a goal that he was going to taste every single lolly in the shop – and I have over 2000,” Mr Lonergan recalls. It was a valiant effort but he thinks his son lost count along the way.

Having worked in a lolly shop for a month while backpacking across Europe, Mr Lonergan had the idea to open a lolly shop in Tilba, an idyllic village nestled in rolling green hills about 360 kilometres south of Sydney.

And 24 years later, business is still booming at Tilba Sweet Spot. The shop sells more than 10 tonnes of lollies each year, mostly to a steady stream of tourists travelling along the South Coast.

“My sales figures keep on climbing year on year and this year, they’ve gone ballistic,” Mr Lonergan says. 

The area was devastated by the bushfires last summer, which destroyed neighbouring town Cobargo.

“We evacuated in panic five weeks in a row,” Mr Lonergan says. The shop lost all of its January trade, roughly 20 to 30 per cent of its annual income. “We were looking forward to a busy Easter and then covid hit.” 

After a tough few months, Mr Lonergan’s luck changed as soon as the shop’s doors reopened in June. “People were stir crazy, they were just driving around NSW,” he says. “We had a 50 per cent increase in turnover in June, July and August.”

In the September-October school holidays, the shop’s business doubled – even without Victorians. “It’s going gangbusters.”

At 72 years of age, Mr Lonergan has decided it’s time to retire and sell up. “I want to go out on a high,” he says. “I’ve got a new relationship which I’m really grateful for, and we want to explore a few places around Australia.”

He will leave the shop with decades of fond memories. “It’s been such a joy to see it all unfold and see how excited people get,” he says. “We sell more memories than we do lollies.”

The shop specialises in traditional boiled candy and hand-made lollies but also stocks more modern options, like the world’s biggest gob-stopper. It weighs 650 grams and is bigger than a cricket ball. 

After all these years, does he have a favourite lolly?

 “There are some things that I’m banned from packing because I eat more than I pack. Dark chocolate bullets, aniseed humbugs, classic Murray Mints. They’re memories for me, my grandmother used to give them to me.”

Seven years ago, Mr Lonergan renovated and added a 1950s diner-style cafe serving gourmet milkshakes and ice-creams.

“Even with very little experience, it’s a business you can be taught to run very easily,” he says. “I’ve got established suppliers. Everything works seamlessly.” 

At the rear of the shop and cafe is an adjoining, modern three-bedroom home with a balcony overlooking the rural backdrop.

“It’s one of the most magnificent landscapes,” said listing agent David Matthew, of Nirvana Property Specialists. “I’ve been selling property along the south coast for 36 years and Tilba is an icon.”

The shop is listed with price expectations of between $1.04 million and $1.11 million, plus stock and is already generating interest from people living locally, interstate and in Sydney, Mr Matthew said.

“It’s touched the hearts and minds of people from all walks of life,” he said. “A lot of these people have been ‘working for the man’ all their lives.”

Such a relaxed yet successful business opportunity [the shop opens from 10am to 4pm] in a picturesque coastal township was rare, Mr Matthews said.