Flushing’s Sweet Spot
In Flushing, Queens, a sweet smell comes from a little neighborhood store on the corner of Main Street and 72nd Drive. Inside, the story’s seemingly endless sugary options might put Willy Wonka to shame.
Main Street is the candy capital of Flushing, and customers entering Main Sweet fall down a rabbit hole of sugar. There are chocolate-covered roses, pastries behind glass cases, baskets filled to the brim with candy, and isles that stretch across the store with candy in every section.
Children run up and down the isles as their parents try to keep up. Their small hands grip metal shovels and dig out their favorite candies for shoveling into the plastic bags. Jelly Beans, Gummy Worms, Peach Rings, and various rainbow-colored candies all fall into the bags waiting to be eaten.
Pricing within Main Sweet is expensive but the treats are worth it. The shop curates Purim baskets, Valentine’s Day collections, and gift boxes that fit the prices, and customers can also choose from displays of baby shower arrangements and other traditional Jewish celebration items. Adults who come in gravitate toward the back of the store, to scavenge through their favorite chocolates. Many also seem to have a salty sweet tooth, filling their plastic bags with nuts and jellybeans from the candy dispensers.
Victoria Sanchez has been working at Main Sweet for six years and she prides herself on her mission. “I am a candy girl, even though all of this sugar is fattening, the years I have spent here make me happy,” she said recently. “The candy and seeing the customers happy make me smile.”
Recently, Sanchez was spotted with a big tray tucked in her left arm, filling it with a special mix. “The boss said put the candies on this to display, so I want to choose the brightest and sweetest ones,” she said. As she was decorating the tray with candy, children and their parents gravitated toward her to get a closer look.
The power of candy is magnetic and captures everyone’s attention in an instant. People of all ages come to this neighborhood draw, a sweet escape to candy land that is Flushing’s sweet spot.
