Fun by the Ounce

Sweeties candy and ice cream shop is a joyful addition to Kercheval Avenue shopping
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Photograph by Hayden Stinebaugh

It’s a toss-up. Is it children who like Sweeties the most or is it the adults who bring them to the little candy and ice cream shop in Grosse Pointe Park?

Since it opened in March, the sugary boutique seems to hold equal appeal to both groups, with maybe a slight nod to older folks who appreciate the retro feel. 

Big jars of “penny” candy line the shelves, and patrons scoop their own selection of salt water taffy, jelly beans, Mary Janes, Hershey’s kisses, and Swedish fish into small bags and then have them weighed at the counter. For those who don’t have a sweet tooth, there’s popcorn and nuts.

To make it simpler, the 100-plus varieties of candies are all the same price: 56 cents an ounce. It’s very much part of the fun to be able to self-serve.

And opposite the candy wall is the ice cream freezer with 16 flavors, including classics such as butter pecan and fun flavors such as Superman and Blue Moon. Portion sizes range from a small taste — that’s free — to a mini-cone at $1.25 or a 4-ounce adult cone at $3.50. Add another scoop for a dollar. 

Some of the flavors are from Mackinac Island Creamery and others from Wisconsin’s Chocolate Shoppe. There are organic and vegan fruit sorbets from Reilly Craft Creamery, a Detroit company.

There are no plastics used, either. All of containers and spoons are biodegradable and compostable.

Father/daughter duo Dale and Emily Krajniak and Maria Zingas are the proprietors who thought the shopping area along Grosse Pointe Park’s Kercheval Avenue really needed “a sweet spot,” as Emily Krajniak puts it. They planned it for nearly a year, and when the storefront at No. 15129 became available, they snapped it up.

Previously a law office, it was lined with dark wood shelves that are a perfect showcase for the colorful candies and the retro board games that are also for sale. 

There was room for a play area in the rear, stocked with children’s tea sets, wooden puzzles, and books, and a separate area with three round tables where adult patrons may relax with a cup of coffee and browse the collection of books on more shelves.

All of the natural wood in the space gives the shop an aura of having been there since Parker Brothers came out with Monopoly, and that’s just how the Sweeties proprietors want it.

Sweeties, according to Emily, is what people in England and Ireland call their candy, and it seemed like just the right name. 


Sweeties Ice Cream & Candy, 15129 Kercheval Ave., Grosse Pointe Park; 313-649-2822. Visit facebook.com/sweetiesgpp for up-to-date information on hours.