A small-batch gourmet popcorn shop is coming to the Grand Central District
/Sunshine City Popcorn Co. will be located at 2533 Central Avenue in the Grand Central District of St. Petersburg
Get your taste buds ready because Sunshine City Popcorn Co., a gourmet, small-batch popcorn shop, is coming soon to 2533 Central Avenue, a Grand Central District storefront that formerly housed Miss Pitty Pat's Porch, an antique shop.
Owner Brooke Wolf is aiming to open for business in mid-August, she told St. Pete Rising. She did her homework before developing a business plan for Sunshine City Popcorn Co., traveling to Texas to meet with a popcorn consultant “who taught me everything,” she said. “He’s helped open popcorn stores as far away as Japan. Who knew?”
Sunshine City Popcorn Co., Wolf said, will make more than 50 flavors of popcorn, both sweet and savory, at its new 1,000-square-foot shop. She secured the Grand Central District spot thanks to Jessica Dwyer of Dalton Wade, who also represented the landlord.
Wolf is using some of the consultant’s recipes but plans to come up with plenty of her own. For example, she said, “Key lime pie — that would be so fun in Florida.”
One of Wolf’s favorite flavors is cinnamon roll — “it’s crazy good,” she said. “It tastes like a Cinnabon, like an actual cinnamon roll.”
Brooke Wolf, owner of Sunshine City Popcorn Co., lives in St. Pete with her husband and son
Savory selections include flavors such as dill pickle and cheesy ranch. Wolf plans to rotate flavors once she sees which ones are most and least popular; there will also be some seasonal flavors, such as white chocolate peppermint crunch around Christmas. “We’ll play with different flavors as people give us feedback,” she said. “Maybe what people like in Texas isn’t what they like here.”
Sunshine City Popcorn Co. will also stock freeze-dried candy made locally by St. Pete Sweets. “It’s big on TikTok, I hear,” she said. “It’s a trendy thing.”
Wolf and her husband hail from Cleveland, Ohio, but about 10 years ago they made the move to Florida. They lived on Marco Island for about eight months, she said, before relocating to St. Petersburg.
Wolf worked as a nurse at hospitals in Naples and Manatee County before leaving the profession a few years ago, when her son was born, to be a stay-at-home mom.
“I’ve been a stay-at-home mom for about four years now, and he’s getting older, so it’s time to start doing something,” she said, adding that she first had the idea to start a popcorn company about six years ago. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I should do it.’ But I didn’t. You know, life catches up with you.”
Sunshine City Popcorn Co. will offer over 50 flavors, such as Cinnamon Roll, Birthday Cake, Watermelon, and Fruit Loops
The idea never left Wolf, however, and she said the prospect of returning to work as a nurse “didn’t bring me joy … after COVID, I was very much in the mindset that life is too short, and I wanted to do something fun that I love and brings people joy. This is such a fun business. The colors are fun; the flavors are fun; it’s just a bright, happy thing that I look forward to doing.”
Wolf gravitated to popcorn because it’s her father’s favorite food and he would make his own experimental popcorn flavorings at home when she was growing up.
“Popcorn has always been a happy childhood memory for me,” she said.
Sunshine City Popcorn Co. plans to open mid-August at 2533 Central Avenue in the Grand Central District. For more updates, follow the company on Instagram at @sunshinecitypopcorn.
