Raul Candy Store, East Village, NYC

Raul Candy Store in Alphabet City (East Village) has been in business since 1979. The #handpainted sign and #storefront are original. Since #ValentinesDay is coming up in just a few days, we wanted to highlight this store as a place to buy some sweets 🍫 🍭 for yourself or loved 💘one. Sadly the owner, Raul Santiago, has just announced that he will be closing his #candystore at the end of this month so please stop inside soon. (They still sell candy for as little as 5 cents 🍬) When we took this #analog photo in 2003 for our book “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York” we interviewed Raul who told us “I opened this candy store in 1979 when this neighborhood was really in trouble. Although things have changed for the better, I still care about the children who live around here and I’ve always tried to keep the neighborhood kids away from drugs.”