MOUNT VERNON — Candy lovers, rejoice! There will still be a sweet spot on Public Square.
Matt and Elizabeth Bonaudi are set to open Sweet Street Soda & Candy Shoppe on March 1 at 1 E. High St.
The Gambier couple has been involved in various ventures before, but never a candy store.
“When we found out that Nick and Tia Vicars, who had owned Almost Famous Sweets & Sodas, decided to close down to focus on family, we thought what a great opportunity,” Matt said.
“I really liked having the candy store here. I think it’s important for the community, and so I think that’s what spurred us on.”
The Bonaudis plan to offer the nostalgic candies their predecessors offered. Treats include hard candy, candy bars, cotton candy, and popcorn. Vegan, gluten-free, and sugar-free options are also available.
“We want people to come in here and be excited to kind of reminisce about what it was like when they were younger. We’re hoping to get people of all ages to come in,” Matt explained.
“We’re incorporating the sodas as well, and we’ve got some really interesting brands, some great flavors, some unique flavors.”
Specialty items ‘off-the-beaten path’
In addition to candy, Sweet Street will offer flavored coffees and snack items, including bagged pickles. As Elizabeth put it, “things that are a little bit off-the-beaten path.”
“We’ll carry Pez and Jelly Belly. We even have pet treats. We’ll also carry some toys, the Ty Beanie babies and the bouncers, which are big hit right now,” she said.
“We’re bringing in Playmobile toys because that’s always been a favorite of ours with the quality of the toy and how it inspires creativity and imagination. With both of us having education backgrounds, that’s important to us.”
“We’re always trying to find stuff that people wouldn’t normally find anywhere else. It’s just a place you can come and get what you want.”
matt bonaudi, sweet street soda & candy shoppe
Shoppers will also find sweet-treat scented candles on the shelves.
“We’re trying to stay focused on the whole sweet candy side of things. We’ll try to put our own spin on it and add to it,” Matt explained.
“If people have a desire for a specific product, we’d like to hear about it so that we can try to stock it and make them happy.”
Elizabeth said Sweet Street will source its items from small-business vendors, such as the Columbus-based Cozy Candles.
“The cotton candy, the freeze dried, and some of the pet treats are also small-business owned,” she said.
“We will even have some, I guess you call them cottage-labeled things: a few made-in-a home products such as cookies.”
The cookie baker is based in Gambier; another supplier in Holmes County produces chocolates.
A family affair
The Bonaudis both have full-time jobs. Matt teaches at Pleasant Street Elementary School; Elizabeth is a Realtor with e-Merge.
“We’re going to be working the evenings and the weekends,” Matt said with a smile.
Elizabeth’s schedule is more flexible, allowing her to work from the store on days when she has fewer real-estate appointments.
“We are bringing back at least one of the employees who worked here before,” she said. “When our daughter is home from college, she’ll be helping out.”
The couple’s eldest daughter lives three hours away and has helped sort inventory and prepare the store.
“She used to work here when [Almost Famous] first opened,” Elizabeth explained. “She was one of their first part-time employees who just helped out, mostly on Friday nights, First Fridays, and some of the other events.”
Sweet Street assumed the city’s lease on the retail space and bought the candy store’s inventory, equipment, and history from Almost Famous.
Matt said the transition was a turn-key operation requiring no painting or renovations.
The biggest challenge was catching up on ordering new products.
“They [the Vicars] stopped ordering when they knew that they were going to close. There’s some empty shelves, so we need to refill those,” Elizabeth said.
‘It’s a process’
Elizabeth admitted she will be glad to finish jumping through the hoops of buying and opening a business. Those hoops include obtaining an employer ID number, opening bank accounts, and evaluating point-of-sale systems.
“They weren’t huge hoops,” she said. “But, well, sometimes the paperwork can take a while.”
Elizabeth said she had “big goals and ambition” when the Bonaudis first talked to the Vicars last Christmas about buying the inventory.
“I thought, ‘well, they’re going to close in January, we’ll just take over Feb. 1,” Elizabeth said. “Tia said shoot for March 1. She was right.”
Sweet Street will keep the same hours as before: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
The couple plans a grand opening at a later date with a soft opening to “work out the kinks as we work through the point-of-sale system.”
Sweet Street’s website is in progress, but the store is on Facebook and Instagram.
“We’re very excited. We can’t wait for this to open,” Matt said.
“We’ve had a lot of people stop by, not realizing that the other one had closed, so they’re looking forward to it being open again.”