R&B singer and former Destiny's Child member Kelly Rowland will also make an appearance at the special two-day event
In this 2012 file photo, Ava Mungiello and her brother, Matthew along with their grandfather, Gerald Fontana walk through an M&Ms World pop-up store in Hackettstown. The candymaker will bring a similar store to Newark for two days next week. (Robert Sciarrino/The Star-Ledger)NEWARK - M&M'S will return to its birthplace in Newark for a limited engagement next week.
The famous candymaker will construct a Halloween-themed pop-up store downtown on Broad Street Tuesday and Wednesday, where it will give out free candy and up to 15,000 costumes to children 12 and under.
R&B singer and former Destiny's Child member Kelly Rowland will be on hand on at a special "Family Fun Zone" at the John F. Kennedy Recreation Center on West Kinney Street Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. The event will include face painting, caricature drawing, balloonists and other activities.
In a statement, Mayor Ras Baraka said he was "thrilled (M&M'S) have turned their attention to our city this Halloween."
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"M&M'S is offering the residents of Newark a safe and family-friendly environment to have some fun, and we hope it will be an event this community will remember for years to come," he said.
M&M's traces its history back to Newark, where the chocolates and their thin candy shells were first manufactured in 1941. The company stayed in the city until 1958, when it shut down its factory in the Clinton Hill section of the South Ward and moved to Hackettstown.
The pop-up store will be located at located at 744 Broad Street, between Commerce Street and Clinton Street, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Dan Ivers may be reached at divers@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DanIversNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
