After 29 years in business, Sweet Indulgences to close

Sweet Indulgences in Greenport will close its doors after 29 years.

The business is currently hosting a closing sale and everything must go by Nov. 14. The property has been sold but store owner Angela Oliveri said she was not at liberty to discuss or share information about the new owner.

Ms. Oliveri decided to sell and retire because she recently had two deaths in her family, which she said were a wake-up call, reminding her how precious time is.

“That made me realize I’m not invincible and I’m not going to live forever, and I thought, you know what? It’s time,” she said.

The store, located at the intersection of Front and Main streets in Greenport, has been a town staple since it opened. It offered sweets, home décor, jewelry and more.

Although it was known for its sweets and gifts, many residents also went in because of the store’s positive energy.

“This has been a little refuge for people to come,” Ms. Oliveri said.

It was also loved by residents for its garden, which Ms. Oliveri credited to her late husband, Frank Deroski.

“My husband was very altruistic, and he wanted a place that would be very beautiful in the center of downtown Greenport and knew that a lot of people lived above the stores,” Ms. Oliveri said. “And he said, this way, you know, they have a beautiful garden to look at all the time and the garden has really become very synonymous with the store.”

Sarah Olmstead has been working at the store for over 10 years helping with sales and candy inventory. She has seen the community’s overwhelming response to the store closing. 

“There are so many customers going ‘what are we going to do for presents, what are we going to do for candy?’ ” Ms. Olmstead said. “So that part is particularly sad, I think customers are really going to miss the store, miss its presence in Greenport,” she said.

Sweet Indulgences was started to celebrate two of Mr. Deroski’s favorite things: candy and Christmas. After 1997, Mr. Deroski and Ms. Oliveri expanded the store to include other items like home furnishings and garden decor.

Ms. Oliveri, at the time, was balancing a fashion career in New York City spanning over 20 years and coming out on the weekends to work at the store until Mr. Deroski was diagnosed with a terminal illness. After he got ill, Ms. Oliveri joined Mr. Deroski and she began to work at the store full time. She had been managing the store on her own since 2005 when Mr. Deroski passed.

“I’m so incredibly grateful to everyone who’s ever walked in my store, whether they’ve bought or not,” Ms. Oliveri said, “It’s made me and allowed me to be here for 29 years … and I’m very grateful for that.”