Picture this: you’ve got a cool $3 burning a hole in your pocket as you purposefully walk as fast as your little tennis shoes can carry you up your neighborhood block. Your mouth waters in anticipation of what you’re going to purchase—lemon heads, some frosted strawberry cookies and a quarter water. As soon as you spot the destination you’re looking for, your face bursts into a huge grin. The candy lady’s house. Do you remember what that felt like? T’Juanna Winters does too.
The owner of Lizzie Lu’s Luxury Treats, Winters is on a mission to help us lean into our nostalgia through our tastebuds by reimagining what our visits to the local candy lady.
Her shop, located just outside of Dallas, is a candy confectioner’s dream. Upon walking through the door you’re welcomed by the sweet scent of handmade chocolate of nearly any flavor you can think of, including lemon, pb&j, lavender and green apple. You’re welcomed by a petite dynamo with a megawatt smile, usually donned in magenta pink (a color she trademarked by the way) ready to help you get your fill of sweets. In just a few short years Winters and Lizzie Lu’s have become a staple in the Los Colinas neighborhood where it’s situated and often enjoys a steady stream of customers daily. Ironically though, Winters says she never envisioned that level of success for her business.
“I was already semi-retired when this all began and spending time doing what I loved, baking,” Winters tells ESSENCE. After spending years as a corporate janitor, a term jokingly called herself after building a career pinpointing and cleaning up issues with staffing, management and procedures to help companies turn a profit, she returned to her love of treat-making in 2019.
At the encouragement of a friend, Winters began selling her signature chocolate barks, candy and cookies online. In December of that same year, she dipped into her retirement savings and officially launched Lizzie Lu’s, named after her beloved grandmother who passed down her baking recipes to Winters when she was just a girl.
Since its launch, her signature chocolate, candy grapes and desserts jars have gone viral on TikTok, causing her to sell out of items almost instantly. The items can also be found on Amazon.
“All of this is handmade,” she says gesturing to the walls of treats in her shop. Known for her chocolate barks, Winters keeps her recipes close to her chest and sometimes spend hours fulfilling orders herself. “No one makes it quite like me. I can try to teach them but it’s just not the same because I’m channeling my grandma. These recipes and techniques are coming straight from her.”
Winters shared that although she’s been advised to franchise and mechanize her candy-making process, she’s taking her time with expansion efforts to maintain the integrity of the product.
“A machine can’t do what I can,” she tells ESSENCE. “You can’t find what I make anywhere else.”
Ultimately, she isn’t too concerned about getting a bigger piece of the $16.5 billion pie that is the US candy industry because her customers come first.
“I want to be able see that initial smile when people try my candy,” Winters says, explaining she’s a stickler for giving away samples. “There’s nothing like seeing the memories wash over their faces when they bite into my candy. You can’t replicate that with a bot. I want to bring the whimsy back into people’s lives because all of us can use more of that.”