A giant jelly bean mosaic of Elvis Presley and floating neon polka dots are the newest additions to the storefronts on Nassau St.
Ricky the Dragon, the official mascot of Ricky's Candy, Cones and Chaos, invites passersby to sample the shop's treats.
This neighborhood-style candy shop, along with the Bent Spoon in Palmer Square, offers students two more reasons to venture outside the campus gates. Catering to the child and sweet tooth in everyone, the two shops opened ths summer, offering a variety of ice cream, candies and other desserts.
Despite competition from Halo Pub and Thomas Sweet, the new confectionaries have already garnered praise and a loyal following.
Even competitors are content with the new arrivals.
"The more options there are, the more people get in the mood to have frozen desserts," said Tom Arnold, general manager of Halo Pub.
Many students have explored the new alternatives.
"This is just what the town needs," said Jessie Yu '06 of Princeton Township.
Ariel Wagner '05, who frequents Thomas Sweet, tested the Bent Spoon's fare.
"It's a very different style," Wagner said. "This caters to a wealthier, healthier, chic crowd. The other places are just about ice cream."
However, Wagner said that T-Sweets and the Bent Spoon create different ambiances for their customers; T-Sweets is more of an old-fashioned ice cream parlor with blend-in varieties, while the Bent Spoon serves up sorbet in more modern surroundings.
Outside the Bent Spoon, James Wray '06 said that while he usually visits Halo Pub, the new store's ice cream passes the taste test.
"I'll go to both," Wray said.
It remains a question, though, whether or not the local sugar high will fizzle.
"I don't know how many more shops like this Princeton can take," Block said.
With such a prevalence of sweet shops, Princeton might one day be better known for its dessert options that its academic reputation.
"You can do an ice cream crawl," suggested Gab Carbone of the Bent Spoon.
of Halo Pub had an even greater destiny in mind.
"The ice cream capital of New Jersey," Arnold said. "That would be great. Spread the word."
Gab Carbone and Mike Errico, owners of the Bent Spoon, say they are introducing a new product — a fusion between gelato and ice cream they are calling "artisan."
The Bent Spoon also features fat-free dairy-free sorbets and "Good Ingredient Bakery" goods, made with fresh ingredients.
"We make everything totally, really, truly from scratch," said Gab Carbone, who said they receive hormone-free dairy products from local farms and other organic ingredients from all over the world, such as a 61-percent chocolate from Madagascar used to flavor ice cream and hot chocolate.
The concept behind Ricky's Candy Cones and Chaos has as much to do with aesthetics as ingredients, founder and owner Rick Barber said, adding that the store's atmosphere was like "neighborhood candy store meets Disney."
Ricky's features candies, chocolates, candy-themed items such as peanut butter lip gloss, an entire wall of Pez dispensers and ice cream in flavors like bubble gum.
Though Barber would not disclose the recipes, he said all ice cream is made fresh in the back of the shop every day.
Dubbed the "Chaos Factory," the public can view the store's ice cream making through a glass window.
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