Indulge!, Newton Highlands’ own candy store, has been a local favorite since 1991.
Run by Newton native Linda Gulman, Indulge! offers a variety of treats, from high-end chocolate to gummies to popcorn and nuts. What’s the secret to staying in business so long? A delicious product – and a lot of hard work.
The biggest draw? The giant wall of bulk candy.
“You can get a little of this and a little of that and have a big bag of mixed up candy,” she said.
Kids love it, but adults love it, too.
Candy isn’t a static industry, and Gulman needs to keep on top of the trends, which she does today primarily by looking at social media platforms like TikTok.
“Right now Swedish candy is really trendy,” she said.
Not Swedish Fish, which are American, but imported-from-Sweden treats. They’re gluten-free and have natural flavoring.
“They feel a little more clean,” Gulman said, although she noted that they still have plenty of sugar. They also usually don’t contain gelatin, which means they’re kosher, unlike most American-made gummy candies.
Gulman does a lot of research to find out what’s currently in demand and sometimes goes to great lengths to find a wholesaler who sells a rarer candy.
She also has a variety of nostalgic candies, although the problem with those is that a lot of candy companies have gone out of business, particularly during the pandemic. People still ask for a candy that hasn’t been made in a decade, hoping one day it will be back.
One nostalgic candy she does carry is the Sky Bar, which was formerly manufactured by NECCO. After it closed in 2018, officials auctioned off their recipes, and a Sudbury business started making them. It’s the only former NECCO product still made in Massachusetts.
One thing that’s changed since Gulman opened her store in 1991 is a lot more people have allergies and intolerances, especially to nuts. She buys pre-packaged candies from special nut free facilities, which means people with allergies can feel more comfortable that the product hasn’t accidentally come into contact with something they can’t eat. She also stocks a variety of gluten-free products.
Indulge! also sells a lot of gift baskets, both for individuals and for corporate clients.
One fan described the store as “the bar mitzvah favor capital of the East Coast” on Instagram. When people come in during the Christmas season and see all the gift baskets being packaged, they’re intrigued.
“Once they do it once, they’re pretty hooked,” Gulman said, adding that many of her corporate clients have been clients for decades. She keeps track of what she puts in the baskets every year, so that she doesn’t repeat from year to year. This year, inspired by the popularity of charcuterie boards, she decided to offer a ‘choco-terie’ board, with chocolate instead of meat and cheese.
Gulman doesn’t have a business background: she learned about business from being in business. “I always worked in retail, and I was an art major in college, so I was always doing something creative. I saw a candy store when we were on vacation, and I thought, I could do that,” said Gulman. It wasn’t easy to start a shop as the mother of a 14 month old, but she managed.
Running a small business isn’t easy.
“Retail is a lot of work, and you can’t work from home. You have to be there,” Gulman said.
But she loves her store.
“We’re a happy place. I love seeing customers who used to come in when they were kids, and now they’re coming in with their own kids,” she added.
And she loves Newton:
“I wouldn’t want to be in a mall,” she said. “The community is really supportive.”