All About Bobb Howard’s General Store

Bobb Howard’s General Store has been around since October 12, 1946. At first, it was just a repair shop. Then 30 years ago, the office of the auto repair was converted into a store, but not just any store. It became a hub for nostalgic candies and toys. Owners Eileen Caplin Wysel and Ronnie Wysel have kept the business in family ever since they inherited the business from Eileen’s parents.

It is a pretty unusual name, “Bobb Howard’s.” Eileen says the store was named for her oldest brother who was named Bobb. Not Robert and not Bob, with one “b.” Just Bobb.

Why have you stayed in the New Hyde Park community for so long?

It’s a great community. The people are wonderful. Were working on some fourth generation families’ cars. We’ve watched these kids come in, who now have children and some of them grandchildren of their own. They come in for candy and the old toys. I call it the food of all nations. All different people live here all different people come to visit here. It’s also close proximity to the city. And I just find everyone friendly and wonderful. The other shopkeepers are terrific and everybody seems to help everybody else out.

You talk about all these generations. Why do you think people have stayed loyal?

My parent taught us to always give everyone a fair share. We are not the most expensive on the block and we’re not the least expensive on the block. We tell people exactly what’s wrong with their car. The same way people ask something about a candy, we know exactly whats in the candy because there’s a lot of  allergies out there. We’ll give them the history of it. We want people to be treated the way we would want to be treated. It’s that simple and basic. And honesty. To be honest with people is all people are looking for.

There is an interesting dynamic here. It’s a repair shop and candy shop. Can you talk about the uniqueness here?

Everybody loves it. Anybody who has their car serviced here gets a sweet treat on their steering wheel as they leave. It’s a cross over. We have people come in and they have their car fixed and they come in for a candy snack. We have people who have come into our store from all over Nassau County and Queens. They end up being repair customers. We always say just try us for an oil change, and they end up telling everybody about us.

Where did the idea of a candy shop come from?

I saw that everybody had convenient stores in every gas station and repair shops on every corner so we converted it to a nostalgic candy store.

What does the future hold?

Bobb Howard’s is a legacy in this town. Everybody always tells us it’s a rite of passage for the kids to be able to cross the street by themselves. That’s our family name on this building and its means a lot to us. We plan on being here – God willing – another 66 years.