North Cambridge’s Spindler Confections will expand into Harvard Square, opening a satellite location inside Leavitt and Peirce Sept. 14. Spindler, which is in its 10th year of business, was approached by Paul MacDonald, who owns Leavitt & Peirce and was looking to fill a space left when New York-based Fruition Chocolate closed up shop this summer. Leavitt & Peirce Manager Norris Duncan said Fruition had issues with the distance between its businesses and with staffing.
Spindler founder Jeremy Spindler said he’s long wanted a second location, and thinks the two stores “are going to complement each other really well,” said Spindler. “We both specialize in selling affordable luxuries.”
Duncan agreed, saying gourmet chocolates are a good addition, especially as Leavitt & Peirce continues to diversify its goods beyond tobacco.
Spindler’s will offer its entire handmade chocolate selection, including its most popular items: assorted bon bons and chocolate covered caramels. In addition, Spindler said “We are hoping to bring a couple new products that might only be sold at [the satellite] location that are geared a little bit more toward tourists,” such as lobster-shaped chocolates.
While its two locations will be less than two miles apart, Spindler expects “”a completely different customer base. Our North Cambridge location [is] very much a neighborhood shop [with] lots and lots of regulars,” he said, whereas Harvard Square attracts mostly tourists.
Leavitt & Peirce expects new customers will come in specifically for Spindler’s, Duncan said.
Credit: Michael F. Fitzgerald
Leavitt & Peirce opened in 1883 and it is full of Harvard sports memorabilia and other historic decor. Spindler plans to create a smaller version of his store’s “Museum of Chocolate and Confectionery.”
The “Mini Museum of Chocolate and Confectionery,” which may not be added until the spring, will feature a collection of vintage candy boxes, advertisements, and molds from the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries when Cambridge was a candy making hub, he said.
At its peak in 1946, the city was home to 66 candy factories, and Main Street was known as Confectioner’s Row, according to History Cambridge. The only remaining factory is a Cambridge Brands facility that makes Junior Mints, Sugar Daddies and Charleston Chews.
Overall, Spindler sees the satellite location as a “test run” for a second brick-and-mortar and hopes the partnership with Leavitt and Peirce is permanent.
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