Smeeks Candy Shop Opens Downtown

It's nice to see a price tag on anything that reads 5 cents. It calls to mind a time way back (a time few among us can remember, but perhaps have read of in books) when gas cost 20 cents a gallon and kids said, "Shucks!" But that's what you'll find at Smeeks, the newest edition to the CenPho cute shop roster. (To be fair, you'll also find a $2 AbbaZabba, but it's seriously worth it for the cute factor the place is steeped in.) The brainchild of Georganne Bryant (who also birthed our favorite boutique, Frances), Smeeks (Bryant's childhood nickname) just opened on Wednesday on the far west side of the inside-out stip mall at the northwest corner of Central and Camelback, and it sells just about everything kitsch and fun -- candy of all colors and sizes, party hats, soda pop, birthday sparklers, games and toys, bags and lunch boxes. It's packed with color and it's all a novelty -- as fun as Willy Wonka and as innocent as a lollipop, with a gnome as a mascot.