Q&A: Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth at Oh! Nuts

At , even adults will feel like a “kid in a candy store.” This tremendous Cedarhurst store carries every conceivable confection, from wall-to-wall packaged kids’ candy to gourmet chocolates in the huge display case at the service counter.

Shlome Frost, store manager for almost 10 years, said his primary focus is cleanliness, caring about customers and stocking the biggest variety possible.

How long has the store been here?

We’ve been in Cedarhurst going on 13 years. But we actually moved to this location about three years ago from right next door. This was a bigger place, and it was available, so we grabbed it. We have four locations — this one, two in Brooklyn and one in Rockland County.

What’s most important to you as a manager?

My main focus is being clean. Even when you come into the basement, it’s spotless. I also try to make our customers happy by trying out different things or adding new sections based on what they like most.

How else does your customer service stand out?

We’re very prepared during our busiest times. If you come into the store on Friday afternoon, the line goes all the way from the register to the back of the store. But the line goes fast. We have five employees at the registers keeping things rolling. Also, we ship anywhere in the United States and every weekend, we have an extremely large amount of local deliveries in the Five Towns area.

What items sell the most?

The most popular items are the Jolly Rancher candies, which they make in a soft variety now. After that, our chocolate covered pretzels are an extremely hot item. We carry new products almost weekly. I travel around a lot to different candy stores to see what they have. If there’s something that’s new, we’ll try it. We can carry a lot, because it’s a very big store — over 5,000 square feet.

What else do your customers like?

We sell a lot of gift baskets and platters. They go from about $10 to $250. But a lot of customers like to make up their own. We notice the things that many of them are putting into their platters, and then we try to use more of those items in our gifts. People love to scoop their own candy out of the jars and take as much as they want. We also have quite a bit of sugar-free candy.

What holiday brings in the most customers?

Our busiest time of year is definitely Purim, around March. After that is the holiday season of Hanukkah and Christmas. A lot of doctors and lawyers come to get gifts for their clients.

What other kinds of clients do you have?

On weekends we get a lot of kids. During the week we get a lot of party planners and caterers who buy in bulk and use the items to assemble it themselves for favors or other uses at parties.  

Do you carry other products?

Yes, we sell ice cream cakes. We get a lot of custom orders where we put characters on them. We have balloons and stuffed animals. We also sell fresh ground coffee.

How did you get your start here?

I wasn’t in the candy business before this, but I got into it because I’m friends with the owner. I love the candy business and seeing how happy people are when they’re walking around the store.