Nuts About Nuts Plus

Open the door to Maryanne Coia’s candy shop and you’ll catch a whiff of something pleasant to lure you in further.

It might be the unmistakable scent of dark chocolate.

Take a few steps more and you might remember the distinctive powdery-sweet smell of pink bubblegum from childhood days of bubble blowing.

And if you’re lucky enough to catch her on a day she when she is drenching crisp apples with a sticky caramel coating … well, if that doesn’t say “Fall,” what does?

The door to Coia's store has been an entrance to those with a sweet tooth for 30 years.

She’s celebrating that fact with an open house at this weekend.

The tiny store along Market Way in downtown Doylestown opened for business in 1981.

Considering that businesses come and go in today’s precarious economy, that’s quite a feat for a neighborhood shop owner.

Make that three shop owners – all women – during that time period.

Nuts Plus was started by Jeanette Zardus, who ran it for two years before selling it to Pat Senn.

Senn, a Doylestown stay-at-home mom at the time, knew Zardus through their sons, who went to school together.

“We stopped in the store one day to buy something and got to chatting that she was putting the business up for sale,” recalled Senn, who now lives in Chalfont.

After discussing it with her husband, Senn jumped in and became proprietor of the specialty store – a task she undertook for 24 years until retiring and passing the business on to Coia four years ago. 

It hasn’t really changed all that much since it started. Senn backed off on the nuts and increased what she calls “every-day candy,” like standard chocolate bars and “penny” candy.

Coia took Senn’s version and tweaked it a bit, filling a void for “nostalgia” candy.

“Not many places offer it,” she said during a recent visit to her store – all 400 square feet of it. “It’s not something you can go to 7-11 or Kmart to find.”

If you’re of a certain age, it’s a chance to revisit your childhood, when Necco Wafers, Pixy Stix, Wax Lips and Candy Buttons gave kids of the ’50s and ’60s their sugar rush. 

Coia said one of the nostalgia candies is still popular with today’s youthful candy lovers – Nik-L-Nips. You might not recognize it by name, but you’d know it by sight or by its slogan: “Bite ’Em, Drink ’Em, Chew ’Em.” (Keep reading. We’ll give you the answer at the end of the article.)

Those types of candies touch a sentimental nerve with many customers, she said.

“I had one person come in and she started getting teary-eyed when she saw we carried C Howard’s Violet Mints. She said it was a candy her grandmother liked and reminded her of her,” said Coia. “So it’s really interesting that people will come in here, see these candies and will just be so touched.”

Last May, Coia added ice cream to her supply list. The pumpkin pie flavor has been a big seasonal hit, she said.

Coia buys the ice cream from Tanner Bros. Dairy Farm of Ivyland. She said she tries to provide a lot of products that are local to the area or were made in Pennsylvania, such as Asher’s Chocolates (made in Souderton) or Wilbur Buds (from Lititz, Lancaster County).

Gift baskets are also a big part of the business, especially around holidays.

Zardos has since died, but Coia and Senn both said running a neighborhood candy store has been a fulfilling experience for them.

“I enjoyed every moment,” said Senn. She remembers getting a lot of business from the lunchtime crowd. “I met so many nice people. Some customers became friends,” she added.

Coia, who also owns an office cleaning business, couldn’t agree more. Much of her family is involved, too. Younger son, Nathan, 19, and daughter Chelsea, 24, work there as well.

“It’s just been quite a blessing,” said Coia of Doylestown. “I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”

And, in case you’re still wondering what Nik-L-Nips are, they’re the mini wax bottles that contain colored, fruit-flavored liquid.

“Bite ’Em, Drink ’Em, Chew ’Em.”

Visit Nuts Plus between noon and 5 p.m. Saturday and help them celebrate. They’ll have an anniversary cake, apple cider, party bags for kids and face painting between 1 and 3 p.m.

Information: (215) 348-0874 or www.nutsplusdoylestown.com.