Trick-or-Treaters, We’ve Found the Mother Lode

All day long, trick-or-treaters have been hitting us up for candy (our one pouch of Big League Chew went fast), but one thing’s for sure: we’re not getting hit as hard as our neighbors across the street.

F.K. Sweetland, a candy distributor at 152 Grand Street, has been around for 25 years (its faded sign still advertises “sports shakes” and “freeze pops”). Rocky Ksed, the place’s 29-year-old manager, inherited it from his father. On this late, rainy Halloween afternoon, trucks were still being loaded.

“It’s been a hectic few days,” Ksed said. “There are a ton of people who do last minute shopping. But this is our month, this is the month we push it.”

Ksed admitted that Hurricane Sandy, which put the holiday on layaway last year, affected business early on in the month (many discount stores still had last year’s stock on hand). But “these past few weeks have picked up. Everything has been great,” he said.

Have the tricker-or-treaters noticed the boxes of M&Ms and Nestle’s Crunch piled on the sidewalk? Oh, yes, they have. “We had a bunch of kids come in here after school, it was a pretty heavy rush,” Ksed said. “I mean, when kids came here today they expected candy. I absolutely could not say no.”