KALAMAZOO, MI -- A retro-styled candy and bottled soda shop is expected to open in downtown Kalamazoo this summer.

Rocket Fizz Soda Pop and Candy Shop, part of a California-based group of franchises that describe themselves as "one-stop shops for all of your soda pop and candy cravings," is set to open in early June at 119 E. Michigan Ave.

The business will lease 1,915 square feet of space there, between the PNC Bank at 108 E. Michigan Ave. and the Biggby Coffee at 121 E. Michigan Ave.

Rocket Fizz sells hundreds of types of bottled soda pops and candies from all over the United States and some from abroad. Its stores also sell hundreds of kinds of retro and gag gifts, concert posters, movie posters and tin signs.

The candy will include everything from old-time treats like Mary Janes, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Bottle Caps and Nik-L-Nips (wax bottles) to hundreds of kinds of taffies, said Heather Holmer, who will own the franchise along with her husband Tom.

She said, "It's going to be a whole lot of everything. When you walk in, it's (going to be) 'Oh, my gosh, this is an experience.' You can wander around and look and look."

She said the shop will also sell modern candies and those from such places as Asia, Great Britain and Australia.

Tom Holmer said the business will sell about 500 varieties of soda pops, including novelty sodas with crazy titles and crazy flavors such as Buffalo chicken, baking soda, pickle juice, grass and ranch dressing.

"It will be a rainbow explosion of sugar, nostalgia and fun," Heather Holmer said.

While the couple expects the shop to be attractive to adults who are nostalgic about treats from their childhood, Tom Holmer said he expects families with younger children to be attracted while on shopping trips to the downtown, as well as college students, who he expects will be attracted to its concert posters and gag gift items.

"I think they will enjoy the whimsy of it," he said.

Heather Holmer said, "It's really the experience that's going to make it a super place -- because we have so much more of everything."

The shop will have a vintage look with all displays and fixtures made of wood. It will not have a sit-down soda bar.

The Kalamazoo store will be the latest in a chain of about 90 stores started in Camarillo, Calif., in 2007. Earlier this year, Novi became home to the first Michigan location of Rocket Fizz. Another is expected to open in the coming months in suburban Grand Rapids.

The Kalamazoo business will be owned by Holmers, who are residents of Kalamazoo. Heather will act as its primary operator with Tom assisting her.

Heather was raised in Kalamazoo and has worked for the past 10 years as a program director for two different student exchange organizations. She is a 1988 graduate of Kalamazoo Central High School who attended Michigan State University before relocating to Chicago where she taught preschool for about 10 years and met her husband.

Tom Holmer was born and raised in the Chicago area and has worked for about 27 years for an automobile parts supply company. He has continued to work for that company as a district manager here since he and his wife relocated to Kalamazoo in 2006 to be closer to members of her family.

The candy shop was a longtime dream of the couple to be in business for themselves. They happened across a Rocket Fizz shop while on vacation in 2016 in California.

They said they are aware of Tommy's Goodie Shop, which sold retro candies, sodas, ice cream and other vintage items in the 428 S. Burdick St. It worked to create a sense of nostalgia for the days when candy was a penny. But it closed in January of 2010, suffering from slower sales after two years of economic downturn.

"A lot of people have said that was just such a great place," Heather Holmer said. "We're definitely excited to carry on that legacy and more, because it's more than just a candy store."