Economy Candy
Candy store · Lower East Side ·
Floor-to-ceiling candy, nuts, dried fruit, and international sweets
Floor-to-ceiling candy, nuts, dried fruit, and international sweets
"Owner Mitchell Cohen tells NBC New York that the shop’s prices will have to go up, since the team sources candies and sweets globally. That includes international variations of Snickers, he says, such as the pistachio iteration from India and the passionfruit mousse from Portugal. He also explains that the costs of American-made confections will increase, since production relies on internationally-sourced ingredients like chocolate and sugar. "Long story short: it’s going to be a struggle." The candy shop has been open since 1937 on the Lower East Side and expanded for the first time in its decades-long history with an outpost that debuted at the Chelsea Market in 2023." - Nadia Chaudhury
"A longstanding Manhattan candy shop where kitschy finds like the above-mentioned candy bars can be purchased in person; it’s highlighted as a place to find nostalgic and small-batch confections." - Emma Orlow
"Founded in 1937, this quintessential Lower East Side institution was a wholesaler that turned into a retailer. Thousands of varieties of candy are offered, including many regional varieties (like Squirrel Nut Zippers and Mary Janes) and other types you may have thought long extinct (Bonomo’s Turkish Taffy, Nik-L-Nips). Every day, the sales floor crowds with tourists, the nostalgic, and candy lovers of all stripes. There’s an additional location in the Chelsea Market." - Robert Sietsema
"Among the city's enduring candy institutions is Economy Candy, a Lower East Side icon since 1937 that recently expanded with a satellite at Chelsea Market." - Bettina Makalintal
"Also sold at Economy Candy, the Cannoli Bars are part of an intentionally anachronistic, word-of-mouth distribution strategy that isn’t listed on the Ariola family’s website, which turns finding the bars in the wild into a bit of a scavenger hunt." - Emma Orlow