Popped!, owned by Gwen Rosenberg, is set up and ready to go for the holiday season. The local popcorn and treats store offers a wide variety of specialty items for the holiday season.

The store, located in Kent and Ravenna, makes all of its food homemade with mostly local ingredients. This year, Popped! was open for Black Friday and Small Business Saturday to sell specialty items. Themed for the holiday, Popped! sells Christmas caramel, gift bags and later this week, will sell gift boxes.  

The seasonal Christmas caramel popcorn, that is only open between Thanksgiving and New Years, is a limited item. The specialty popcorn is made up of molasses and combined with cinnamon and ginger.  

The gift bags sell at $8 a piece and includes chocolate covered pretzels and peppermint bark. Rosenberg said these holiday specials “fly off the shelves.” The other holiday option people can buy for their family or friends are the gift boxes. The gift boxes sell anywhere between $25-$50 for a variety of types of popcorn. These can be pre-made or made to order for each customer. 

Packaged in crinkle cut paper, the popcorn samples can be shipped to those who live further away from Kent. 

Another item that is popular year round and the holiday season is its black squirrel bark. This treat is made up of kettle corn, caramel peanut popcorn and pieces of milk chocolate peanut brittle. The chocolate peanut brittle is so popular, the store sells is separate from the popcorn mix.

Rosenberg suggests buying a treat the customer has tried before as a gift for a family member or friend. 

“So all of our treats are delicious, but I always recommend that people buy what they really like to give as a gift. And that way if your gift recipient decides to open it up and share it, you get to enjoy it too,” Rosenberg said. 

Popped! tries to use as many local ingredients as possible. The store also hires people who live in Kent and Ravenna, while donating to local causes and sending their kids to the local schools. 

“It really is true that every dollar that you spend in a local business really does go right back into it,” Rosenberg said. “We try to buy as many local ingredients as we can. We try to support as many local causes as we can and that makes a richer, more vibrant community.”

Contact Amanda Levine at [email protected].