All right. Welcome to Good News York sponsored
by ads on the go get ads on the go dot com. Mike
Brindisi flying solo. Matt is not here and it's
his loss because I have an amazing guest with
me today. Not Matt, just me. I have them all
to myself from the speech family candy business
or I should say this speech family candy shop
speech speech family candy shop. Ladies and gentlemen,
Mr. Michael's speech. Thank you for coming. Thank
you for having me. I am very excited to have
you. Well, I mean, look right off the bat. I
want to say I my kryptonite is sugar and sweets
and chocolate. And I'm not afraid to admit that.
I love it. We have a candy bowl in our house.
But here's the thing. You go to the stores, the
big box stores, you kind of see all the same
brands. You know what you're going to get. When
I first looked on your website, the selection
that you guys have and kind of just the services
that you guys do outside of, you know, making
and and and putting candy out to purchase you
guys just you just do so much and It's a family
business. I want to talk about that first because
Family businesses are the bread and butter of
this country right and You guys have a great
story and I'd love for you to talk about that.
I know you're was it your great grandfather came
from Italy. It's an amazing story. It really
is the American dream. I'd like to hear about
that. Sure. So yeah, I'm the fourth generation.
So my great grandfather originally came over.
in the late 1800s with a bunch of his family.
And after kind of going back and forth, whether
or not to actually stay in the country, he finally
settled right in Syracuse. And he started actually
doing various jobs, did some construction, everything
else, and then finally fell into a job working
with Coughlin Brothers, which is actually a business
that was making cough drops at the time, medicated
cough drops. And as part of that process, he
actually learned how to make hard candy. And
that was part of that first step into him deciding
that he wanted to kind of pursue that. So after,
I think he ended up borrowing a thousand dollars,
which back in 1920. That was a lot of money.
A lot of money. Yeah. Uh, and basically invested
and started making candy. It originally started
in the front of his house, right on Lodi street,
not too far from where we currently are located.
Um, only a few blocks. And then it kind of just
got passed around from family member to family
member until my parents landed it in the eighties.
And then actually put up its first brick and
mortar location, um, where customers could actually
come into originally my grandfather and all of
his children were doing business to business.
So. It's probably one of the reasons why our
name is not as popular as say like a C's candy
that has been serving consumer directly for many,
many years. You know, I threw the word American
dream out. And I think sometimes we use that
a little loosely, but that is genuinely the American
dream. You migrate over from another country
to the land of opportunity and you work hard
and you hope that you get that break to where
you can, you know, start your own business or
just create a life that's sustainable. And I
just I truly think that's such a great story.
And thank you for sharing that is the house where
he. started. Do you guys still own that house?
No, that was sold many, many years ago. During
all of the craziness with the business. At one
point, my grandfather employed quite a few people.
And then we were even exporting back to France.
We actually have documentation where he was actually
sending candy, which is unheard of. Yeah. You're
thinking Belgian chocolate, French chocolate.
Sure. You know, the UK, they have really good
product. He was actually sending it back over
there. So that was kind of cool. So at one point,
they actually had one of the largest houses with
the first in -ground pool in Syracuse on McBride
Street. Really? They actually, once the family
got to a size because I my grandfather had 10
children. Wow. So, you know, and my grandfather,
Ernie was actually the youngest of the 10. So
I have, you know, people that are my generation
that are like twice my age. Amazing. So the family
was huge, but yeah, I wish we still had that
house. It's actually, I drive past it all the
time. It's not too far from Deloro's bakery right
on the north side. Yeah. I asked because I mean,
it's, it's, uh, It's more than just a house,
right? I mean, that is the symbol of the hope
that he had and then the success that came once
he came here and started grinding. I just love
that. I do know that you guys are just involved
in not only just obviously making selling candy,
you're involved in a ton of events. I definitely
want to talk about that, but. I noticed, you
know, it is a family business. So is this something
that as you were growing up, you were like, oh,
well, I gotta do this. I mean, this is the family
business. Or did you take a genuine interest
on your own with this? To be totally, I was the
opposite. Really? When I got in my teenage years
where my friends were like hanging out and going
to parties and movies, and I was stuck either
helping take care of my sisters who were younger
than I was, or helping out like at the holiday
time at the candy store, when I finally got a...
license, I was like, I'm out. I'm out. See you.
I want nothing to do with it. Yeah. It was kind
of one of those things where, yeah, I was going
to be the end of the candy line, I think. Oh,
boy. For a while there until I went and pursued
a totally different area. I actually went into
entertainment. I did television radio and then
I went into theatrical design. Excellent. Right
from. So I went to OCC, had a full ride to Ithaca
College and was pursuing everything. You're a
bomber. I am a I'm a bomber. Oh, very cool. Park
school. Did you? Yeah, I was in theater school.
I was over at Dillon. Yeah. There's some crossover
there. I took some some acting classes and stuff
like that. Yeah. And we actually they always
kind of work together in that side. And we've
I did some design work over at Park for lighting
and stuff. Dude, I think you're my new best friend.
You're an Ithaca College alum and you have a
bag full of candy with you. So, you know, it's
2025. There's a lot of opportunities out there
to start businesses. Entrepreneurship is probably
at an all time high. But, you know, back in those
days, especially your great grandfather's days
and even a few generations ago, that was it wasn't
as. I guess, common to be able to launch a business
like that. And candy is such a niche. niche product.
Were there some barriers there with with with
sustaining success and sales with just just being
candy? Did you have to pivot and kind of because
you do more than just the candy itself now? Yes,
we do a lot more. But back then, I think a big
part of it was because we were business to business
back then, which was mostly whole. I mean, we
were predominantly wholesale. We were selling
to like every corner candy store. We were selling
to places down in Cortland. We were, you know,
again, shipping it all over the, you know, abroad.
So I mean, the idea I think is a little bit different.
Where I think like, especially when we when we
hit the Great Depression, right? Like, you know,
families were, you know, losing out, sure, no
jobs, all that kind of stuff. Because it was
a food processing business, my uncle was able
to get rations so he could continue to make products
so that he could continue to sell product. So
stuff like that was really interesting and being
able to help out families that way. That's amazing.
So there was a little of that. And I think a
big part of it is because the relationships were
business to business versus business to consumer.
Sure. There was more demand. Absolutely. I think
that's what kept him going. Wow. And have you
guys always, you make all the candy and package,
manufacture, package the whole deal? Well, we
make a lot of our own chocolates. So basically
predominantly chocolates, fudge, and then brittle,
hard candy brittle. Of course, we carry a wide
selection of Jelly Belly candies, M &Ms, all
the big brands, harder to find candy. We have
a whole nostalgia section with like sky bars
and Necco wafers and all that stuff as well.
Yeah, we manufacture everything and everything
is done by hand. There's the only things that
are like Electronic in the entire building are
our chocolate melters even today even to this
so you know So if I was to walk in in the back,
I'm assuming you do all this in the brick and
mortar store If I was to walk I'm not gonna see
big machines I'm not gonna this is all big candy
melters that you know we can melt like 200 pounds
of chocolate at a time and Big marble tables
and a lot of counter space. That's Yeah. Fascinating.
Yeah. You know, we should I'm just going to say
this on the air. We should if you want it, we
should come and shoot. I'd love to watch you
go through that process. And I think a lot of
people would. Yeah. I mean, it gets to a point
where it can be a little tedious. Like I've been
trying for years to try to figure out how to
do TikTok videos and stuff. But I'm like, I don't
ever stand in one spot for long enough. I need
like a panning camera. Like because I'm literally
all 360 camera. Yeah. I mean, we have a marble
table about the same size as this table that
I work at predominantly that we make fudge at.
And I'm like. on all four sides running around
it for hours at a time. Do you think at this
point, you could probably make candy with your
eyes closed? Do you think the process is so ingrained
in your brain? At this point, yes. We actually
have what we call a recipe Bible, which is all
of my great grandfather's original recipes and
then recipes we've modified over the years. And
I have it just for a resource just in case I'm
not there and my sister or one of our associates
have to produce something. I don't even really
look at it anymore. I bet. I know. Oh, this is
eight cups. Right. Right. Speaking of that, when
I was on your site, there was much more than
just candy. There was. the the advent calendar
you talked about for for the holidays, the events
that you guys do. Something that caught my eye
was your speech isms. I didn't know if you wanted
to talk about that and what that exactly meant.
I appreciated it very much. So we actually again,
it's a family business and we're in candy. It's
not like we're, you know, manufacturing like
car parts. Sure. So there's a really there's
a lot of lightness and a lot of humor. A lot
of what we do, even when we ship out boxes like
my last one is uh, F M O F A flip me over and
find out when you're shipping chocolate. Um,
so like we, like we try to have fun with it.
And so one of the things we came up with a few
years ago, um, it was during COVID actually,
when I was like sitting there and I have a, I
do a lot of graphic stuff, but we were like,
let's just start making up like all of the funny
things that we think are hysterical that other
people might. So like, there's a lot of speeches
and they're like, can vegetarians eat animal
crackers? Like it's a great question really,
you know, yeah, that's that's like and that just
came out one day when we were sitting there talking
I think we were actually dipping graham animal
crackers and chocolate. That was the conversation
I was like, I wonder if vegetarians can eat these
like yeah, right. That's a very valid question
No, I see and that just kind of furthers my point
of how not only is it original because you are
a family business But you guys are just original
in everything you do, you know, it's the speech
isms like You know, if you were ever questioning,
should we put speeches on the website? I hope
I kind of solidified that you should have because
it caught my eye immediately. Yeah, we have a
lot of fun with that. That's one of our biggest.
And I actually have a lot more. I just haven't
loaded them up. Sure. You guys. Also do something
called, I can't read my own handwriting, but
I think it's called, was it Quarters for Change?
Quarters for Change. This is really great. Can
you talk about that a little bit too? So when
we actually had our 100th anniversary, which
is back in 2020. Congratulations. Thank you.
Five years later, but congratulations. Five this
year. But back then, we were trying to figure
out what we can do to celebrate 100 years in
business. And as a small family business, the
big part is the community. I mean, if the community
wasn't supporting us, we wouldn't be in existence.
So back in 2020, we came up with our program
10 Decades of Giving. And so we partnered with
10 different nonprofits in Syracuse. And then
each one of the months for the first 10 months
of the year, we were donating a portion of all
of our sales to each one of those nonprofits
in support. as a thank you to the community.
And unfortunately, 2020 happened and we hit COVID
and all of that did not work out as well as we
wanted. We were hoping to, we wanted to actually
hit a hundred thousand dollars in donations and
we only hit like 38, I think that year. Just
because of the way that you're planned out. But
in a way to kind of continue the whole idea of
giving back, we came up with this program. I
am a very avid vinyl record collector. Nice.
And so when I had the opportunity, I actually
had a custom jukebox made. Oh, it's the last
manufactured jukebox in America right now. Rockola
is no way. We are best friends whether you want
it or not because I've told my wife that I if
we come across a Vintage jukebox in good condition
like I'm gonna splurge. I'm gonna get it. So
I keep going. I'm sorry. I'm just very excited
No, no, no, so I sat down with the owner. His
name is Alexander really great guy We talked
about what I wanted we wanted it to tie in with
the candy store so it has like the rainbow lights
and the bubbles and the whole bit and all custom,
you know and So we ordered that and i was like
well now i'm gonna have this jukebox where am
i gonna put it and i said let's bring it to the
candy store and then we were thinking what can
we do to kind of give that whole vintage looking
nostalgia look for that and we were like well
let's just continue the whole giving back so.
Back in 2023, we started the program, Quarters
for Change, and we basically align with different
nonprofits every month, and all the quarters
that it collects, because it's like a bank, go
directly to the nonprofits. Not only is that
so giving, so kind, and for all the obvious reasons,
but that's so creative, man. You could tell that
you worked in the creative industry, theater.
You're like me, where I come from a performance
background, and somehow I always apply some sort
of performance or music. creativity within whatever
I'm doing. That's amazing. Do you do you have
is it forty fives? I'm assuming. Yeah. And do
you collect only forty fives or do you collect
them all? No. In the jukebox, do you have candy
theme songs like the Archie's? I'm trying to
think of your sugar sugar pop. Yeah. Mr. Sandman,
there's of course Candy Man is in there. Yeah.
Sammy Davis Jr.'s version of that. Yeah, and
we'll we'll switch them out. So every month,
like I have my collections quite extensive. So
every now and then I'll switch out records or
put new ones in. We actually have a thing on
the website where you can request. So if we have
it, we'll put it in for the next month, which
is kind of cool. But and even if you're online
and making a purchase, you can also donate to
the jukebox and then we put the quarter in in
the store. I mean this respectfully. You know,
when if someone was here, you're going to have
someone on to talk about their family candy shop.
They're probably thinking, OK, this will be just
a cute little interview with five. And this was
the whole reason we wanted to have you on that.
It's not just a candy shop for all the reasons
you're just listing. And I just I'm absolutely
in love with it. You guys do everything from
candy trays, molded chocolates. Fruitworks, chocolate
truffles, brittles, pretzels and something also
called pack and pour. What is that about? So
did I say that right? Is it pick and pour? Pick
and pour. Sorry. Again, I have terrible handwriting.
So one of our things we want to do for the hundred
and fifth anniversary is we wanted to give everyone
an opportunity to do something truly unique.
So we came up with an idea that we were going
to make it so that people could go on our website
and order a custom candy bar. Our brickles, which
are basically like chocolate barks okay we've
made 80 different varieties of them and they're
crazy um if you go onto the website but um a
lot of people come in and like have you ever
done this or have you ever done this and then
at a certain point it's like well i can't continue
to make hundreds of these, you know, it's just
going to be too hard. So why don't we just give
the customer the opportunity to do something
truly unique so you can send it as a gift. You
can give it as a, you know, I mean, truly, what's
the best unique gift you can ever give is something
custom made for someone. Absolutely. So you can
either do a one pound chocolate bar and you can
add up to four different ingredients inside the
chocolate bar. You can name it. So and then it
even comes with a custom little tag on there
that says made for. So it's packaged to its packaged.
And then so you need to do that. Or you can also
do our bags of brickle. So you need to get a
one pound candy bar or five bags of brickle.
And actually, oh, boy, I was hoping the bag would
come out, Danny. I brought two of the pick and
pour brickles. One was the Raspberry Coffee Tribute.
OK, that was one of the names to a customer with
that idea. And then the other one was made for
mix. Amazing. And so now they go home with this
candy. You don't carry it after it's just kind
of a one time deal. Basically if they order it,
we make just enough for the order. So it's a
custom one off. If it's something they like,
we obviously just keep the recipe on hand and
they can always reorder. Can they do you stamp
the candy as well with anything? We don't stamp
the candy. The candy bar is like its own shape.
Gotcha. But like these are I mean, obviously
you can see that they're really different and
the labels are all customized. Amazing, man.
That is that's so great. I we're going to go
there. We're going to come and we're going to
shoot now a couple more questions, because I
know I don't want to take up too much of your
time. Another feature that seems, I guess. You
know, in 2025, it's not unheard of. But I think
in in your industry, it's really unique. You
guys deliver. You deliver. And even on your website,
you list where you do like it's very specific.
Have you always been doing that? So and is there
like a minimum? So there's no minimum. You're
paying for the fee. There's a flat fee for I
mean, for each. Yeah, you can order. Five things.
You can order 500 things. It really doesn't matter.
Um, we, uh, we actually partnered a few years
back with, uh, 1 -800 flowers. They approach
that being a fulfillment for Sherry's berries
and fruit bouquets. So if you ever order Sherry's
berries or fruit bouquets and you're within certain
zip codes, more than likely they're coming directly
from us. Wow. We've partnered with them. I want
to say it's been 11 years now. So when that happens,
we were like, OK, well, I guess we need a delivery
driver and we need to have a delivery truck.
And we started doing deliveries. And obviously,
we do a lot more than just stuff for them. Right.
Yeah. So we do a local delivery within 20 miles
of Syracuse. That's absolutely phenomenal. So
this is a family business and right now it's
you're running the show. Do we have anybody in
line? to carry this on after. Are we are we setting
up another generation for the family business?
Well, there is a fifth generation. They're all
still in elementary school. They're a little
young yet. But again, when I was in elementary
school, I was stuffing bags and making baskets.
So, yeah, it's just a matter of time. Sure. We
do. We do have the possibility of that. But I'm
also not going to put it on anyone. It's one
of those things where I think that I felt a lot
of pressure from not my direct family, not my
immediate family, but a lot of my distant cousins,
great aunts and uncles. They were like, oh, you're
taking it on next. I'm like, who signed that?
Says who? I didn't commit to that. And it wasn't
until I went into what I thought I wanted to
do that I missed the family business part of
it. Oh, that's awesome. A couple more things
real quick. I did notice you have a Willy Wonka
which is one of my top 10 favorite movies of
all time. I just actually introduced my kids
to it. Willie, was that any sort of influence
on you? Was it was it a big part of the family
tradition that you guys always watch that movie
because it's centered around candy? Is it a significant
does it play a significant role in the in the
speech family? In general it to be totally funny
way my sister a few years ago for Christmas who
actually works with me she's my manager at the
store she actually. had a custom poster made
with the three Willy Wonkas. So you have Gene
Wilder, Johnny Depp and Timothee Chalamet on
a thing. And then I'm the fourth one. And it's
all says Candyman, Andrea. I'm like, yes. And
my one of our license plates, a Candyman. Yes.
And then my license plates on my truck say Syracuse
Wonka. So, yeah, it does play a pretty big you.
Man, you get it. You just get it. You get it
across the board. Jukebox is custom license plates.
You're absolutely Amazing. Two or three quick
rapid fire questions before we go. OK, the favorite
vinyl in your collection. Do you have one? I
do. Really? Right off the top of your head. OK,
all the time. Kylie Minogue came out with an
album called Disco a few years back and you jam
out to every single song. So when I'm there at
two o 'clock in the morning, I put that vinyl
on. I feel that. Do you I've heard people say
that. Music sounds better on a jukebox. Do you
believe that? I do. I do too. I love the I love
the pops the clicks that actually gives it it's
more character driven. It's got real like a robust
sound that you just Can't find it. And with that
jukebox, we were able to have it custom made
so it feeds into their entire store. So like
when you play the jukebox, all the rest of the
music cuts out and it's just the jukebox. So
that was one of the custom. So good. And it's
a win win because it's your collection. So it's
not like a song is going to come on. You're going
to go, oh, you know, it's it's every it's everything
from your collection. My sister doesn't like
when the Muppets manamana play. Well, it's great.
Roll her eyes. She's like or Fraggle Rock. I
have a rock. That's great. It's so awesome. So
if we're doing favorite vinyl, this is probably
harder. Favorite chocolate or candy that you
guys make? That's a hard one. And I have to say,
it's depending on what I'm making. OK. Like if
my hands are in caramel, you're going caramel.
I'm going caramel. If I'm doing something with
a dark chocolate and sea salt, I'm tasting some
of that. And if I'm coming to your store and
I've never been there and I say, just give me
like one of your signature, what's one I have
to try? More than likely, our chocolate potato
chips. Those are you. Tell me you brought some.
I'm leaving here with diabetes and I'm fine with
it. Brought some. So our chocolate potato chips
are probably our number one staple from the 80s
when my parents took over the business. Have
you guys ever heard of chocolate covered? You
have? I've never heard of chocolate covered potato
chips. That is outstanding. And last question,
your busiest season, because I would think Christmas
or Valentine's Day. Sometimes it's not as obvious,
though. So it's funny. Christmas is our longest
season, our busiest season. Sure. Because that
starts basically in November. OK. Our busiest
day of the year is Valentine's Day. Okay, makes
sense. And where can we go to brick and mortar
location website? All the plugs, give it to us.
Okay, our brick and mortar store is at 2400 Lodi
Street. It's on the corner of Court and Lodi
on the north side. And then the website is speechfamilycandy
.com or speechcandy .com or there's like 20 different
URLs. I'll lead you back to the same place. That's
amazing. Michael speech from the speech family
candy shop. I've had so much fun with you. You're
a very unique person and you guys are a very
unique business and we really appreciate you.
And I'm serious. I think we should come in and
shoot if you if you want. We'll talk off here.
I think it'd be really fun to come in. And how
can I not? I mean, I wanted to before I knew
about the jukebox. So maybe we can reshoot you
doing the Candyman song. Remember the Candyman
can we could reshoot the music video? No, Danny
says no, I say yes. All right, maybe not. Anyway,
Michael speech from the speech family candy shop.
Check them out. And thank you for tuning in to
Good News York. We'll be back Monday. Good News
York sponsored by ads on the go get ads on the
go .com. You can follow me on all social media
at Mike BTV. Thanks for tuning in and eat some
candy.