Warning: if you are a dentist, you will either hate this post or love it as it will bring you more customers!
There are few places in New York City that I love to visit for candies. For sure the choice is endless, whether you go to places specialized in candies or to delis, supermarkets...But here, a candy store is definitely different: when you go to a grocery store, you have food all over and you probably did not come just for candies. However, if you go to a candy store, then you cannot ignore the excitement that it triggers, making you feel like a kid again!
So, the three places I will take about in this blog post are: Dylan's Candy Bar, Sockerbit and Economy Candy!
This is definitely one of the most renowned candy places in New York City! It is owned by Dylan Lauren, daughter of Ralph Lauren who is said to have been inspired to open this store by Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
The store is on two floors and you go from one to another via the "Stairwell to candy heaven", where each step is encrusted with candies!
There, you have a wide variety of candies, such as the classic jelly beans that I tried for the first time in this country!
My favorite flavors being banana, pear and root beer!
They also have an impressive wall of gum balls!
What I like about it is also the range of old fashioned candies I have never seen before:
such as the Abba-Zaba that I doubt was named after a pop music band...
Of course, if you prefer chocolate, they have also something for you!
Like the chocolate fountain or these big blocs of fudge:
Of course, you can also buy some candies by the pound and you cannot miss the display at the entrance of the store!
There, you will find the classic candies sold by the weight: coca cola sour bottles, licorice, sour peach candies, raspberry candies or these gummy chicken feet:
Dylan's Candy Bar is definitely an institution in NYC and they know how to market it! If you go there, do not miss they display of famous people who went there, so you can see what candies they like!
We sure love their candies...
Sockerbit:
Sockerbit mean "Sugar Cube" in Swedish and it is a store that proposes Scandinavian little candies aka "smågodis". We found that place walking on Christopher street and surely, because of the white setting of the place, we could not miss the vibrant colors of the candies!
The white walls and furniture made it as if we were in a hospital where the only medication was candies! Definitely my kind of hospital!
Besides some products that I will talk about later, Sockerbit sells candies by the pound, for a price similar to most of the candy places. Some of the candies are very familiar like the sour coca cola bottles or the banana.
But they also have some interesting ones that might be different by shape, but not taste, like the Sura Persikor or sour peach:
My favorite being the Sur Apelsinskalle or sour skulls!
If you prefer chocolate, they have plenty of different ones for you!
They also sell chocolate bars:
But, what is also interesting with Sockerbit, is that they also sell Scandinavian products such as pickles:
Jam:
Or those little Swedish bread we call "Petits Pains Suedois" in France!
They are so good with butter and Jam!
So, definitely, Sockerbit is a unique place to discover! People there are friendly and their candies delicious, even if you do not know how to pronounce their name!
Sockerbit
89 Christopher St.
New York, NY 10014
Economy Candy:
Economy Candy might not be as known as Dylan's Candy Bar, but this place, that has been around for more than 80 years is also an institution. When going there, do not expect a well organized spacey store: the alleys are tight and you kind of feel overwhelmed by the choice of candies they propose!
They either sell candies by the unit or by bulk. You can find there old fashioned candies you may not have heard about (for sure there are some candies that did not cross the Atlantic!) and some more known!
In the well known, there are of course:
Big lollipops with fantastic colors:
Jelly beans (remember: my favorite flavors are pear, banana and root beer)!
Or Pez:
They also have chocolate:
The Milka chocolate is very popular in France, especially milk chocolate (Milk-a), although it lost some ground to brands like Lindt. They also have the Cote d'Or brand that I cannot find anywhere else.
And then I saw a box of Mon Chéri! They are made of a cherry soaked in Kirsch liquor, surrounded by dark chocolate. Love it!
In fact, Economy Candy has lots of candies and chocolate bars that I use to eat in France and that are difficult to find in stores (some delis have them, but not always), such as the Lion bar:
A Lion bar is made of a filled wafer, caramel and crisp cereal (in the original recipe this was Kellogg's Special K) covered in milk chocolate.
Or Bounty that makes me think about my sister Corinne who loves it!
Bounty is like the Mounts bar without the almond!
The last cool thing about Economy Candy is that they have lots of candies with fun packages!
So, definitely, Economy Candy will overwhelm you so much, that you will not realize that you put a little too much candy in your bag...But, is there such a thing as too much candy???
Economy Candy
108 Rivington St
New York, NY 10002
To conclude this post, if I had to root for one place, I would go for Sockerbit because of its originality!
Enjoy (I did)!
If you like this post or the photos, feel free to share it using the toolbar below or to write a comment!
And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!
