“Life Happens…
Chocolate Helps!”
This is the tag line and sign on the wall at Mindy’s Munchies, a dazzling, colorful new store in the Lakeside Centre Plaza in Boca Raton. Opened a week before this past Valentine’s Day, February 14, by Mindy Mosca, the store is a treat to visit and experience. Mindy started making chocolate as a hobby when she was just a teenager in New Jersey. She would bring trays of chocolates as gifts that became so well received that she began doing successful house parties. Fourteen years ago Mindy’s husband said the magic words, “let’s open a store.” What had begun as a hobby in Mindy’s kitchen, grew and flourished into a prosperous business featuring over 100 different chocolate covered creations all developed by Mindy herself. All of her chocolates are handmade, none are made by machine.
While Mindy operates her New Jersey location, her business is managed in Boca by Samantha, a member of her “family.” “Samantha is my best friend’s daughter and actually my best friend gave birth to my best friend.” They are so close that Mindy sees Samantha as her own daughter. It truly is a family business in that Mindy’s husband, Harry, left corporate America after almost 30 years to help grow the business. Also, Mindy’s two high school sons work in her NJ store part time. This real and quasi-family now consists of 6 important members: Mindy, her husband, Harry, their 2 sons, Samantha and her mother. In addition, Samantha’s boyfriend has become
so close that he has helped with management and the build-out of the new store, and the family unit has stretched to now include him. “We are friends that have become family,” said Mindy. As a child, Samantha would stay with Mindy during the summers and had always expressed a desire to work in the chocolate store. Mindy insisted that Samantha attend college and also help out at the store during the busiest months, to be sure that it was the work Samantha wanted long-term. Mindy wanted Samantha to experience the reality that “from September to December we are working around the clock to get out holiday orders.”
Despite the slow down as a result of the coronavirus quarantines in March, Mindy said, “we have family, friends and resources rallying for us.” They continue with their regular curbside pickups as well as local and nationwide shipping. Life goes on, and Mindy has even been called upon to create “shiva” platters. She is pleased that her products are in demand to sweeten life’s dicult moments as well as celebrations. Not only do orders for birthday platters continue but now customers are asking for “anti-stress” platters and for sweet escape “anti-coronavirus platters.”
Mindy was featured in a nationwide Verizon campaign and has been on several commercials as a small business owner. She said, “although through the years we had been on ABC-TV, Channel 7, on the Rachel Ray Show, and written up in the New York Times, we do little paid advertising. We’ve developed a following in this area, mostly by word of mouth.” Locals self-promote Mindy’s two most popular parties: Children’s Birthdays and Ladies Night Out. In a video on Mindy’s website, for example, ecstatic children arrive at the store and are escorted to the back party room. They are given
boxes which they enthusiastically decorate with their own names. (The boxes will later be filled with sweets and act as their take-home party favors.) According to Mindy, “we teach them how to dip and drizzle.” The lunch routine includes Pizza, and then “Mindy’s Munchies Bingo.” Then the thrilling grand finale includes ice cream and cupcakes to complete the “party full of sweets.”
Many of Mindy’s chocolate creations are unique and cannot be found anywhere else. “One of my most popular handmade munchies,” she said, “is the Coconut Bliss. It’s a wafer cookie with caramel and coconut, dipped in dark chocolate and covered with toasted coconut. You can’t find this combination anywhere else on earth and customers keep coming back for it.” Other noted special favorites are “Mindy’s Marshmallow Mountain” and her Oreo “S’moreos.” “We take what you love,” explained Mindy, “and we make it better.” In fact, they can customize any order. One time a veterinary office wanted a platter with chocolate dog bones and paw prints with the company logo on them. Other unique platters include colorful college logos, while an entire wall of gift baskets honor every occasion from new baby to just married to sympathy themes. Customers can find small, attractive “Grab & Go” Pretzel Packages from under $10 to extra large eye-catching gift platters for about $100. Last month you’d find a table filled with Easter and Passover gifts and May and June brings Graduation, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day chocolates. There are also rows of glass cases with irresistible-looking shelves filled with pretzels, peanut butter cups, nut clusters and so many other delicious chocolates available for purchase by the pound. ($28)
Don’t leave without experiencing Mindy’s chocolate. I tried a bite size piece of dark chocolate with nut chunks inside and large salt morsels sprinkled on top. I didn’t think I’d like salt on my chocolate but the utterly surprising contrast of sweet mixed with salty combined with a quality of chocolate I’ve only tasted in Belgium or Switzerland, which was just out of this world. This was the kind of bliss that makes you forget any troubles and focus only on having more of that ambrosia, that food of the gods.
Mindy’s Munchies
561-826-7208 • mindysmunchies.com
8182 Glades Rd.
Boca Raton, FL 33434