Lickee’s & Chewy’s Candies & Creamery
Here ye! Here ye! Lords, knights, squires and all other manner of people are welcome to the gates of Lickee’s & Chewy’s Candies & Creamery (53 Washington St., Suite 100, Dover, 343-1799, lickeesnchewys.com). Proceed with a sweet tooth and an empty stomach, for mouthwatering indulgences await. Your host through this unique confectionary realm is owner and founder Chris Guerrette — he’ll quickly make you feel like a kid in a candy store with the help of his eponymous character partners, Lickee the knight and Chewy the dragon, who both hail from the “Kingdom of Caramelot.” Housed in the historic Cocheco Mills complex in downtown Dover, this 5,000-square-foot medieval-themed shop even resembles an age-old castle from the outside. You’ll find thousands of classic and novelty candies from around the world here, along with a full line of handmade chocolates and ice cream offerings, including its famous “King Shakes.” These over-the-top indulgences are quite literally fit for a king, featuring 24-ounce ice cream cups loaded over the brim with all kinds of ingredients reflecting various themes. The Scene recently caught up with Guerrette, an Air Force veteran who realized his dream to open the shop while overseas, about some of his favorite items at Lickee’s & Chewy’s and what to expect the next time you pass through the gates of his candy kingdom.
How long has Lickee’s & Chewy’s Candies & Creamery been around?
We opened in September of 2018. … I was in the Air Force for almost 25 years, active duty, and I was stationed overseas in Afghanistan in 2008. It was Christmastime and we had a lot of gift packages that had arrived from the United States. … I was sitting there one day and a friend of mine turned around and said ‘Man, that’s a lot of lickies and chewies,’ and I said, ‘That’s a lot of what?’ Come to find out that it’s an old military term that was used by the Army and other services way back in the day to literally mean junk food, candy and stuff like that. … So I told my friend right then and there that I was going to open a candy store with that name someday. … In 2014, a tiny little candy store in Durham, where I live, went up for sale. I ran that store for a few years and then started building Lickee’s and Chewy’s in 2018.
What makes Lickee’s & Chewy’s Candies & Creamery unique?
It’s a gigantic ice cream, candy and chocolate shop, and we kind of go overboard on all three of those things. I think the thing that brings most people in is the ice cream, but then we also have all of our handmade chocolates and a ridiculous candy selection. … We just want people to come and enjoy themselves, and so I think the unique medieval theme and all the decorations make us different from a lot of other places. When you walk in the front door, there’s nothing for sale for the first 50 feet, just decorations. We call it the throne room … and you can sit down and take your picture with all the dragons. … We’ve built this place as a destination, and a place that people can come and spend maybe 45 minutes to an hour and just kind of explore and enjoy themselves.
What is your personal favorite thing that you offer?
The caramel apples, because I created a caramel that’s specific to them. I don’t use it for anything else. … We only do them in the fall, because we go pick the apples ourselves from local orchards, and we primarily use Honeycrisp apples for them. … Along with just some of our homemade chocolates in general, those are my favorite things that we make. We have one that uses my mom’s cinnamon pecan recipe that she developed when I was growing up, and it’s kind of like an apple pie-flavored apple. Usually, we can’t keep it in stock.
What is one thing everyone should try?
I think everybody should try a King Shake at least once. I’ve never personally finished one, but it’s more about the experience of enjoying something that has probably about seven or eight different ingredients or things going on. … We use ice cream from Blake’s Creamery [and] at any given time we’ll usually have between nine and 10 King Shake flavors. We are constantly making new ones to feature too, so right now we’re launching a couple of new ones for the summer.
What celebrity would you like to see visiting your shop?
That’s easy. We’ve always wanted Adam Sandler to come visit, especially because I’m a huge fan. But then also seeing as he’s from New Hampshire to begin with, we always thought it would be really fun if he ever had an opportunity to come see us.
What is an essential skill to running this type of business?
There are two things. One is creativity — you have to always come up with something new. You can’t just make one style of something and then sit back on it for years and not change it. … You also have to be flexible, so like right now, there are a lot of challenges that businesses are facing with increased prices and shipping difficulties, and you’ve just got to be able to find a way to keep the store stocked and to keep it interesting so that no matter what, when people come visit, they will enjoy themselves.
What is your favorite thing about being on the Seacoast?
I’m a big ocean person. I grew up in Connecticut … and I spent a lot of time traveling along the Seacoast vacationing here, so I could never be more than a few miles away from it. … I also really like the fact that we’re really close to the intersection of [highway routes] 95 and 16, so it’s really easy for people to come in and see us, whether they’re headed north or south.
— Matt Ingersoll
Courtesy photo.
