They’re now updated, I believe. You can text them, you know! We also have chocolate lips, which is a nice little smooch!
The word “overload” is immediately evoked when you walk in the front door. This candy shop is one of the few remaining old-fashioned, authentic candy shops. It is a New York City landmark.
Joey Goldman from San Francisco told Martha Teichner that they were having a birthday party next weekend and that they thought it would be fun to bring some candy for the pinata.
Hannah, a young customer, stated that she needed to “like, go here every single day!”
“Every day?” asked Teichner. “Do you think that you would get sick of candy if we came here…?”
She replied, “No.”
Three generations of the Cohen family preside over floor-to ceiling, wall-towall candy with more than 2000 varieties. Mitchell Cohen said, “We are New York’s oldest retail candy shop. We have been in business since 1937.” Moishe Cohen, his grandfather, was the one who started the business. “He would set up everything outside at 5:00 and 6:00 each morning. It didn’t matter if it was zero degrees or 100 degrees. My grandfather spent every day outside” – to chat with customers.
Lower East Side, New York City’s poorest neighborhood, was full of immigrants who indulged in cheap candy. Mitchell arrived at the scene after his parents had taken control.
He said that when I was 4 or 5, my dad would take me to the milk carton and put me behind the register changing change. “I grew-up here, working weekends and holidays on Sundays.”
Teichner asked, “Did you love it or resent it?”
“Oh, it was so good!”
He loved the idea so much, he quit his job at an investment banker to start the business. He loved it so much, he brought Skye, his future wife, to the business on their first date. “And then, I believe it was our second or third date, he took us to work!” She said.
The store’s back is color-coordinated, making it a party planner’s dream! These jelly beans are only the beginning. The jelly beans are just the beginning. There are four KitKat flavors to choose from: Strawberry, White Chocolate and Ruby Chocolate with Almonds and Cranberries.
All kinds of Haribo Gummies are imported from Germany and come with lots of funny names, such as Wackelgeister or Curlywurly Swallowies.
You thought it wasn’t possible to find all the things you need? Economy Candy may have it. Although penny candy is no longer a penny, it’s still quite affordable at $4.99 per pound.
Sara Mertz, customer, said that she could find all the candy my parents ate, even those from when I was young, here that isn’t possible in other places.
Alejandro, a father, said to Teichner that he attended high school near here. “You walk into here, it’s almost like a place where time has forgotten.”
Not quite. Mitchell Cohen estimates that this tiny candy shop, measuring 1,000 sq. feet, sells half a billion pounds of candy each year. It has survived COVID without tourists because it runs a profitable online business.
People are equally likely to visit here to get the latest trending item as they were for the previous century’s.
Mitchell stated, “Can’t keep them on the shelves.” Skye said, “At one time we had a two month waiting list just for one of these.”
Economy Candy makes it easy to act and feel like a child.
