The Candy Man in Orient, the iconic North Fork chocolatier, closed its doors permanently right before Easter, usually one of its busiest times as it was known for its chocolate rabbits.
Debbie Michta, who ran the business with her husband Jim Michta for nearly four decades, said in a Facebook post that a medical issue forced her family-run business to shutter.
The Orient Village business “has been the center of our world,” one passed down through generations, starting with Debbie’s grandfather, William Heins, the original “candy man.” He started making chocolate bunnies in his garage after retiring to Orient in the 1960s, according to a 2018 interview with The Suffolk Times. By 1980, he bought a former garage and opened the shop, where the family sold homemade chocolates, pretzels and chocolate strawberries year-round, plus gift baskets, boxed candies and handmade candy canes around the holidays.
“We are heartbroken to announce that we must close. A tragic medical diagnosis within the family has forced us to make this decision and made it impossible to continue making our handmade chocolates with the standards you have grown to love,” she wrote. “We would like to thank our community and loyal customers for the unwavering support throughout the years.”
The Michtas took over the business from Debbie’s parents in 1988.
It’s unclear what will become of the property, two prominent side-by-side commercial properties totaling just under a half-acre and 147 feet along Main Road, also known as Route 25.
The Candy Man shop, the well-known red, one-story building, sits on a 0.21-acre parcel at 22350 Main Road, while the other at 22420 Main Road holds a smaller one-story structure, also on a 0.21-acre lot.
Zoned business, each property allows for a variety of uses, according to past listing descriptions, including retail, wholesale, warehouse, beverage distribution, garden/nursery center and more. It could also attain a special exception user for a take-out restaurant or dining establishment, the listing said. Each has parking.
Both are currently owned by Heins W J & E M Living Trust.
In 2022, Nicholas J. Planamento, a broker at William Raveis Real Estate, represented the owner, Jim’s mother-in-law and Debbie’s mother, Evelyn Heins. The properties were on the market for $2.5 million.
The price was reduced to $1.9 million by 2023 and then removed from the market.
“The Candyman” sign was removed from the front of the building and the building was largely emptied out within a few weeks of the closure announcement.
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