Floral Park had to go two weeks without its iconic sweet shop, but owner Tina Matera, who just finished moving the longstanding store to a bigger location, says the village will find the brief break to be well worth the wait.
“As much as I loved Tulip Avenue, it was a very small store,” Matera said. “This is a bigger, better store for me to be able to grow the business and start doing parties and be part of other nice things in people’s lives. You can’t just stay small forever.
Matera said she’s able to stock much more product and will offer parties and candy-making workshops to the community in the bigger space. She said she looks forward to holding chocolate-making classes, cookie decorating, candy sushi sessions and holiday-themed parties, all workshops she will teach herself.
“There was just no room for that there,” she said of the old store. “It was just built to come in and get your favorite treats. I felt like I could only expand more once I had a bigger location where I could offer more.”
Tulip Sweet Shoppe, now located at 70 Covert Ave., is just a few blocks away from its original 175 Tulip Ave. location where it had stood since 1999 – and where Matera, a self-proclaimed candy lover, discovered her passion for sweets while working the counter at 16.
When the shop’s original owners moved to sell the store roughly 14 years ago, Matera said they turned to her, then 23, first.
“I thought I was nuts. I had no idea what it was gonna bring. But I was there all the time anyway, so it made perfect sense,” Matera said of what was going through her head when she decided to purchase the store in her early ’20s. She said it was her family who supported her and gave her the confidence to take the leap.
She dove headfirst into the business, bringing the expertise her culinary arts degree provided her to the store. She said just about all of the shop’s chocolate, along with roughly 50% of its treats, are made by her in house.
Now 20 years after a superstorm and a pandemic she said it’s her customers who motivate her to keep going and make all the long hours and ups and downs of business ownership worth it.
“My customers are my biggest thing. I treat everyone the way I would want to be treated when they come to a store,” Matera said. “I love them so much. They’ve been a part of me growing as an individual. From 23 to now, 36, I have two kids. They’ve been there for every pregnancy. When I got married, some of my customers were at my wedding. It’s just a huge family community. They really taught me the most.”
That homemade touch and the warm, welcoming family feel of the business are reasons she thinks people value stopping in over picking up a bag of candy from rather than visiting a regular store.
“I think it’s a unique experience. If you have young kids, it’s fun. They could pick their own candy in their own bags and customize what they want versus going to a grocery store and just picking up a pack of Swedish Fish or something like that,” Matera said. “I also think we offer unique gifts. You could buy an assorted box. But you could also literally hand-pick every single piece that goes into there. I just think that’s a nice, loving way to show someone ‘Hey, I know what you like. I listen to you.’”
Matera says there’s something for everyone at her shop, which sells a wide range of truffles, chocolate-covered-everythings, gummy candies, Italian ices, lollipops and rice crispy treats. But, most importantly, it brings a dose of happiness to those who step inside.
“People are always happy to get candy,” she said. “Everybody loves a piece of chocolate.”
Tulip Sweet Shoppe is open noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, noon to 6 p.m. on Fridays and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays.
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