By Jenny Callison
Enquirer contributor

Jodi and Andy Reith whip up cotton candy at Walnut Street Popcorn & Sweets. (Tony Jones photo) | ZOOM |

Besides the sugar, the best thing about Walnut Street Popcorn & Sweets was the fun of sharing, recalls Kathy DeLaura.

"It was the kind of place I would take visitors from out of town," she said. "I think every member of my family that ever visited me got to go there."

After an absence of five years, the downtown icon is back. Official opening will be Tuesday at the new location in the Mercantile Building at Fourth and Walnut streets. DeLaura can't wait. She'll be there today, during the store's "soft" opening this weekend.

DeLaura plans to introduce her visiting nephew to the sweets shop.

"It will give us a chance to hang out together," she said. "If it's warm weather, I'll be checking out the frozen yogurt. And the caramel corn - I can't resist the caramel corn."

Although downtown habitues mourned the shop's disappearance from its spot at 637 Walnut St., the business never closed.

Owners Lori and Andy Reith instead concentrated on their Blue Ash location when a two-year renovation and construction project at the Walnut Street building forced them to close soon after they bought the business in 1998.

Walnut Street Popcorn & Sweets first popped onto the downtown scene in 1984. Original owners Adele and Hiram Gutterman shared with Cincinnati snack-lovers several family recipes that evoked the street treats of New York and Chicago.

Among the shop's big sellers were Chicago Mix popcorn, a blend of caramel and cheddar flavors, and "Big Apple" caramel apples, coated with gooey candy melted in old-fashioned copper kettles.

When the Reiths bought the business, they became the guardians of the Guttermans' recipes for treats and for people-pleasing customer service. Adele Gutterman and her son Hiram worked with the young couple for a year to ensure consistency. The shop at 9709 Kenwood Road in Blue Ash has carried on Walnut Street traditions and handled its corporate gift business.

But Walnut Street Popcorn & Sweets left its heart in downtown Cincinnati.

"We never wanted to leave downtown," said Andy Reith. "We had a very nice following and lost some of our corporate business just because we were out of sight."

It took the couple three years to find a suitable new spot. Relocating on Walnut Street was a must. The space, next to a Subway and just up the street from the Government Place bus staging area, seems ideal to them.

The shop's menu is diverse, blending the classic with the trendy. Fans can put together an eclectic breakfast with such items as cappuccino, fruit-covered waffles and bacon-flavored popcorn.

Walnut Street Popcorn & Sweets will host a Sweet Happy Hour during the last hour of business each day, which for now is from 4 to 5 p.m.

If you go

What: Walnut Street Popcorn & Sweets.

Where: 420B Walnut St., in the Mercantile Building.

Hours: 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday; open Sundays for special downtown events.

Information: 421-CORN.

E-mail jcallison@zoomtown.com.