Beloved Orient Candy Man closes after nearly 40 years
The Candy Man, an Orient institution known for its rich chocolate bunnies, closed the day before Easter Sunday — ending a nearly four-decade Main Road tradition.
Owner Debbie Michta said a “tragic medical diagnosis” forced the family-run business to make the difficult decision to close up shop.
“The Candyman has been the center of our world, a family business that has been passed down from multiple generations,” Ms. Michta wrote in a Facebook post April 5. “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 continued.
Before the Facebook post, a handwritten sign inside the shop notified customers that Ms. Michta’s husband, Jim, had been diagnosed with cancer and that the store would operate only on weekends.
On Monday, a printed sign on the door announced “Closed — April 4, 2026, last and final day” as the candy store parking lot sat empty.
The Suffolk Times reached out to Ms. Michta for comment.
Ms. Michta and her husband took over the sweet shop from her grandfather, the original candy man, who retired in Orient in the 1960s. He began making chocolate rabbits in his garage as a side hobby, Mr. Michta told The Suffolk Times in a 2018 interview.
The bunnies were an instant hit, and he wound up buying a former gas station to convert into the iconic, red-painted store near the hamlet’s entrance.
“Time is flying by,” Mr. Michta said of running the store. “It’s just a matter of time, you figure out the routine for a while. We’ve figured out what we need for each season.”
Maureen Massa, a longtime customer of the Candy Man and former Southold resident, mourned the loss of a shop where her family had many fond memories over the years.
In 2017, she brought her grandkids, Sasha and Talia, into the shop on a weekday when Mr. Michta was working by himself. He was gracious enough to let the 5- and 7-year-old go behind the scenes to check out how the sweets were made.
“It was one of their all-time favorite moments,” she said.
Ms. Massa, who posted photos of that visit after making one final pit stop to the store on Friday, recalled what made it so special.
“The smell was always fabulous,” she told The Suffolk Times on Monday. “There was always plenty of time for them to interact, and it just reeked of old North Fork — in a good way.”
Ms. Michta thanked the community for their “unwavering support throughout the years” in her April 5 Facebook post.
“On behalf of the Heins/Michta family we would like to say goodbye and sweet dreams,” she wrote.
