Sweet Dream Candy Shoppe grand opening is Saturday, May 18

By Ashley M. Casey

Associate Editor

The mint green storefront, white wood-paneled ceiling and pristine shelves stocked with glass jars of sweets arranged in “Roy G. Biv” order look like they belong in a storybook — or in “History Mystery.” But it’s neither a blast from the past nor a work of Willy Wonka’s pure imagination: it’s Baldwinsville’s newest business, Sweet Dream Candy Shoppe, located in the village’s Four Corners.

“I grew up in [the] late ‘60s and early ‘70s and there was a cute little general store in the village I grew up in, and you used to be able to go buy penny candy,” recalled Robin Mack, who with the help of her family opened Sweet Dream on April 30.

Sweet Dream Candy Shoppe will hold its grand opening from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 18. The Greater Baldwinsville Chamber of Commerce will conduct a ribbon cutting at 11 a.m. The first 50 people at the opening will receive a free gift box. For every $5 spent, you will receive a raffle ticket to win a candy arrangement. Visit facebook.com/sweetdreamcandyshoppe.

Sweet Dream Candy Shoppe sells classic favorites such as gummy bears, swirly lollipops and candy cigarettes as well as modern creations, including the Syracuse-based Speach Family Candy Shoppe’s chocolate-covered potato chips and “single estate bean-to-bar” confections from Nostalgia Chocolates, located in East Syracuse.
Mack and her family sort candy into the bulk jars or weigh them into smaller bags for sale. Broken bits of candy — not fit for sale but still edible — go into the “employee benefits jar.”

“I can eat two pounds of peanut M&Ms like it’s my job — no pun intended,” Mack said.

Sweet Dream will partner with the Baldwinsville Theatre Guild to promote the summer musical, “Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka.” Mack said there is a “golden ticket” event in the works.

The shop also sells favors for weddings and showers, and gift baskets are available as well.

Mack had always wanted to open a candy store reminiscent of the one in her youth. She began to seriously consider the possibility over the last five years. Now that she is nearing retirement, she decided it was the perfect time to turn Sweet Dream into a reality.

“I have been a nurse at St. Joe’s for 20 years and I needed something to do to retire that was less stressful,” she said.

Mack has a bachelor’s degree in business and worked for a wine magazine for a time, but Sweet Dream is her first major foray into the business world. Fortunately, she has her community and her family at her side. Her husband, Tim, built the shelving and paneled ceiling for the shop, and coated the storefront with a paint appropriately named “Robin’s Nest.”

“I kind of showed him a Pinterest picture of what I wanted and went from there,” Mack said.

Mack said she had heard the village’s architectural review board could be tough, but she presented a drawing of what she dreamed the shop would look like, done by a graphic designer friend. “I went to them with that drawing and threw out there that it was modeled after a patisserie in Paris,” she said.

Village officials gave Mack the (mint) green light — “They’ve been great for me and super supportive,” she said — and she took possession of the space in March.

“It didn’t take long,” she said.

The Greater Baldwinsville Chamber of Commerce and other businesses around the Four Corners, such as Lovely Nails, Fashion Rescue 911 Boutique and The Deli at 12 W. Genesee St., have been very supportive as well, Mack said.

“The chamber’s been fantastic. It’s just been a really, really positive experience for me,” she said.

Richard Sartor, Mack’s father, said his daughter has an eye for what works both in design and in business.

“It makes me observant about a few things: traffic and product selection,” Sartor said. “She does a great job finding out, if she doesn’t have it, what people want. [The shop is] not only beautiful, it’s laid out well.”

While Sweet Dream’s old-school aesthetic is appealing, Mack said she hopes it also evokes the wonder, simplicity and sense of community from her youth.

“The world’s become so separated because of all the social media stuff,” she said. “People are looking for that old sense of community, knowing your neighbors.”

Tucked into the corners of Sweet Dream are seating and a children’s play area. Mack said Baker High School students have been hanging around the store after school. But no matter whether they’re 8, 18 or 81, Mack said everyone who enters the shop is transported back to childhood.

“Everybody’s response when they walk in, no matter what age they are, they’re a kid again,” she said.