Cindy Andrews, co-owner of Auburn Popcorn Co., brought a piece of home with her to Auburn. Originally from the Chicago area, she grew up around two large popcorn shops.
After discussing it with her husband, Will Andrews, the two decided an "old-timey popcorn shop" was exactly what downtown Auburn needed. Will knew the former owner of the University Barber Shop, the business that was previously in the same spot, and they discussed the purchase and move-in.
Auburn Popcorn Co. opened its doors to the public with little to no advertisement May 18. The decision to open the shop was debated in the Andrews family for about three years.
"It was a matter of finding the right location because popcorn is one of those things that isn't a destination type of thing," Will said. "People stop for it when they are walking by."
Will said he specifically wanted a spot on College Street and having brought his boys to the barber shop when they were younger, the location just worked for the family.
Will is originally from the Auburn area but moved around throughout his younger years which is how he met his wife. He recalled his grandparent's home being only five blocks from Jordan-Hare Stadium.
"I've always called [Auburn] home because it's where I spent my summers," Will said.
Will said his family has strong roots in the community. His goal with the Auburn Popcorn Co. was to bring a fun, family-owned and oriented business to the area.
At the time of opening, the Auburn Popcorn Co. was selling their gourmet popcorn in many flavors like caramel, cheddar, strawberry, pizza, dill pickle, lemon, buffalo-blue cheese and jungle mix. Jungle mix is their blue and orange popcorn.
"We played around with the flavors before we opened up," Will said. "We love popcorn and always have and every time we went places that had popcorn places we would try to remember the ones we liked."
They also have candy and candied nuts. The business will be adding gourmet fudge to their list of products in the coming weeks.
Will said the key to great popcorn is quality ingredients.
"Taking pride in and putting out a good product is important," Will said. "We taste and sample everything we make and if we don't like it, we throw it away. Not to say that we like everything, but if we don't think that it tastes right, we won't serve it. We serve gourmet, hand-crafted popcorn. We want a fresh product every day."
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