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August 25, 2025
GREEN BAY – After running Cottontail Candy for two years with only a tent and a portable cotton candy maker, Rhonda Richlen said it was time for a storefront.
Earlier this month, Cottontail – first featured in The Business News’ Aug. 21, 2023 edition – opened its new storefront at 2803 Packerland Drive, Suite 15, in Green Bay.
For a few reasons, Richlen said the move was out of necessity.
“Because of state laws, if we wanted to evolve, we had to find a storefront,” she said. “We can live-spin cotton candy at events without a commercial kitchen. However, if we want to pre-package containers of cotton candy, we need a three-compartment sink. The state would not allow me to do it in my house, so I had to find a space.”
Luckily, Richlen said she found the space on Packerland more than a year ago with the needed sink.
“Also, in high humidity levels, we can’t really spin cotton candy too well,” she said. “The same can be said on inclement weather days. We just wanted a space where we can offer all of our flavors and more products for pickup.”
Even though Cottontail now has its own storefront, Richlen said it will also continue to attend events in the area.
“It just might not be quite as many,” she said.
In addition to offering its own products – such as cotton candy and savory popcorn – Richlen said the storefront also provides an opportunity to feature and support products from other vendors.
“You have to make a lot of money at markets, and then it goes toward rent and insurance,” she said. “Now, we can support other vendors we’ve found at markets that were in the same boat as us – they don’t have the manpower to run their own store, but they wanted to get their product out there.”
Richlen said the new location is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Juggling her full-time teaching duties at Bay Port High School, Richlen said she will lean on a few employees and her family to help out.
“In the evenings after teaching, I’ll replenish our products,” she said. “I’m the one who usually makes the cotton candy, and my husband, Wil-Michael, is the one who [makes] most of the popcorn.”
The storefront is a big step for Cottontail, Richlen said.
“I always wanted a family-run business – I just wasn’t sure what it would be,” she said. “I always joke with my friends and family that I never thought at 50-some years old, I’d be spinning cotton candy. But it’s fun and I love seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces when the cotton candy cone is as big as their head.”
