Sweets Shop

by Josh Brayer

Snugly tucked between Longs Drugs and Café Siena, just above
Figueroa on State Street, is a sweet little candy shop called Sweet
Alley. After moving from Washington, D.C. four years ago,
husband-and-wife candy store fiends Geoff Friedman and Ali Oshinsky
joked about the fact that there was no candy shop on State Street.
Two years later, they were the proud owners of their very own
sweets store.

Sweet Alley started out specializing in old-school treats: Abba
Zabbas, M&M’s, and Swedish fish lined the walls in all their
colorful glory. Candy-themed music piped from the PA all day long.
Then, soon after Longs canned its ice-cream counter, Geoff and Ali
saw an opening and aimed to be the first to fill that niche. But
they didn’t want just any old ice cream; they went for the super
premium Double Rainbow brand. After a 10-day remodel, the store
reopened just before Memorial Day — and just in time for summer —
with a brand-new look: A dozen fantastic ice-cream flavors beckoned
from a new counter, from It’s a Goody and Golden Gate Swirl to Mint
Cookie and Cappuccino Chocolate Crunch. But that’s not all. The
counter includes homemade fudge and ice-cream cones, caramel
apples, Rice Krispie treats, and s’mores on a stick. “Everybody has
a soft spot for something; Sweet Alley fills a niche for any sweet
tooth,” quipped Friedman. If all that weren’t enough, the store
also hosts kids’ birthday parties, complete with fun candy games
and candy art projects.

Now, with 3½-year-old Sam (whose favorite treats are the candy
bubbles) and twin 15-month-olds Charlie and Joe, it’s amazing Geoff
and Ali still find the time to run the store — they’re usually the
ones making your milkshake and scooping the ice cream. But business
is booming, and, as Sweet Alley celebrates its two-year anniversary
on July 3, success never tasted so sweet.

4·1·1 Sweet Alley is located at 1103-A State
St. Call 899-8304 or email sweetalley@cox.net.