BUFFALO, N.Y. — The week leading up to Easter is like Super Bowl week for Buffalo's candy and chocolate shops.
"We opened up at 9 a.m.," Park Edge Sweet Shoppe Owner Anna Hartog said on Monday morning. "We had people coming in right away. The parking lot was full and we were ready to go."
Shoppers might be a little late to the game this year with Easter falling early, and the snow late last week.
"It's pretty hard when Easter is close to Valentine's. We have a very limited manufacturing time because we make everything in-house," Hartog said. "Especially with the snow, no one wants to buy chocolate for Easter in the snow."
No matter the holiday, their stick-shaped sponge candy is always the best seller.
"We will sell over a ton of sponge candy," Hartog said. "We always say the size of a car that much sponge candy we will sell, and then with the bunnies, we will sell a couple thousand bunnies."
Due to the price of cocoa around the world, chocolate prices are up across the board.
"We've felt that drastically, so unfortunately we did have to raise our prices a little," Hartog said. "Not as much as other places had to, but we did have to raise them and especially within the next coming months, prices of chocolate are going to go up even more."
So whether you're shopping for Easter or just to fill your chocolate reserves, it's a sweet time to stock up.
Park Edge Sweet Shoppe has extended hours all week leading up to Saturday before closing for Easter Sunday.
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