Popular Morro Bay shop known for its cinnamon rolls has new name, owners. What’s in store?
A Morro Bay business that has been serving up cinnamon rolls, cookies and handmade candies for decades has a new name and new owners.
But Blue Shell’s Sweets & Treats, as Crills II is now known, is still in the family.
In December, Wendy and Donald William handed the keys of the confectionery shop at 903 Embarcadero to cousin Rachelle Fleischmann and her husband, Nicholas.
The streetside sweets emporium is across from Wavelenth’s Surf Shop, next to Poppy’s clothing store and shares the building with the Hofbrau restaurant.
The Williams still own Crill’s Salt Water Taffy, 1247 Embarcadero in Morro Bay. The store is located between Tognazzini’s Dockside Restaurant and the Dockside II eatery and fish market.
Cinnamon rolls, cookies popular at Morro Bay sweet shop
According to Rachelle Fleishmann, ownership of the sweets shop has passed down through the generations from her grandfather’s sister Savannah Williams.
“I came here as a little girl on vacation (from the Fresno area) and never could resist stopping in to get an amazing cinnamon roll,” Fleishmann recalled.
That’s still her favorite sweet in a shop that’s packed with them.
“They’re gooey, and not as sweet as some people expect them to be,” she said of the cinnamon rolls, which are one of Blue Shell’s best sellers. “That’s what the cream cheese icing is for.”
Fleishmann and her husband make the rolls by hand, using the Old West Cinnamon Rolls mix that they go to Pismo Beach to buy.
The rolls — which come topped with “cinnamon goo” topping, as the Fleishmanns have affectionately dubbed it— are available with or without walnuts. The optional cream cheese icing comes in a cup for easy drizzling or dipping.
Visitors who’ve enjoyed the cinnamon rolls “want to take them home to their families,” Fleishmann said.
Over the Juneteenth holiday weekend, she said, “A man told me everybody in his family gave him $5 each and told him, ‘Bring me bring back a cinnamon roll.’ ”
Blue Shell’s 6-inch-diameter cookies — chocolate chip, peanut butter and oatmeal raisin — are also popular, she said.
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Before the Fleishmanns took over the reins of Blue Shell’s Sweets & Treats in January, Nicholas Fleishmann “worked with my cousins for nearly a year, to learn the ins and outs of the business,” his wife said.
Rachelle Fleishmann left her job as an inventory manager in Reedley, and the couple moved to Paso Robles.
“We have bought a house, made a two-hour move and taken over a business in the span of two months,” she posted on Facebook in January. “My new favorite saying is ‘I was tired of the 9 to 5, so I started my own business and now I work 24/7!’ ”
The Fleishmanns have expert assistance in the form of longtime shop employee Mel Romo-Calderon, who has worked in the building for more than three decades.
“We joke when we tell people he came with the building, because he’s worked with the family for the past 23 years or so,” Rachelle Fleishmann said. “He makes all our chocolates, all our truffles, our fudge. He makes all the candies here” except the sugar-free ones, which they buy from a trusted supplier.
Romo-Calderon spends long hours tending mixtures in a semi-spherical candy kettle atop a traditional candy stove.
Fleishmann joked that “we call it our witch’s cauldron.”
She and her husband work together mixing dough, baking, shelving products, helping customers and running the shop with the help of longtime family friend David Montemayor and other sales associates.
How has Blue Shell’s changed under new ownership?
As the owners of Blue Shell’s, the Fleishmanns have slowly made some changes to make the shopping experience easier and more fun.
For instance, Rachelle Fleishmann rearranged how Blue Shell’s customers wait in line for their turn to select goodies from the glass-enclosed cases that display the candies.
Fleishmann also added music to make the waits more enjoyable, moved the souvenir and gift section to the back of the store so it doesn’t impede the flow of customers, and has coordinated colors to give the shop a more unified look.
“I’m always willing to move stuff around and try new things,” she said. “We’re the younger generation ...”
Rachelle Fleischmann is 28, while her husband is 31. “We want to be doing this for the next 20 years,” she said.
“This has been overwhelmingly fun,” she said. “I didn’t think I’d be having as much fun as I am. Everybody who comes in, they’re happy to be here and they want to share some of that joy and tell us how great our cinnamon rolls are.”
“Morro Bay is such a great place. I never want to leave,” said Fleishmann, who hopes to eventually buy a home in the city by the bay. “People have been so supportive.”
Blue’s Shells Sweets & Treats is open 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
For more information, call 805-459-7839 or visit facebook.com/Blueshellsmorrobay.
This story was originally published June 28, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Popular Morro Bay shop known for its cinnamon rolls has new name, owners. What’s in store?."
