Holland’s Mercantile

Great old fashioned candy store. All the store on the square are really great. My kids love to go to Holland’s after school.

We visited Hollands Mercantile on a very busy Saturday and as usual, enjoyed our experience. We know not to expect individual attention because of the mostly self service nature of the store, and the fact that many of the employees are teens working part time jobs, again, in a very busy atmosphere.
We love the assortment of traditional and modern candies, and we dont have a complaint about the prices because shopping at Hollands is a treat, and we only buy small portions of our very favorite candies.
Hollands Mercantile is a nice reminder of the old grocery store experience!

Wait. Shouldn’t a candy store be the happiest place on earth? I was so excited to finally have a day off to visit Holland’s for the first time, because they close at 5pm on weekdays and are not open on Sundays. For what should be a happy candy store, this place felt like sadness. The young girl behind the counter seemed in a rush to get us out of there, even though it was in the middle of the day, nowhere near closing time, and there were no other customers in the store. It was weird. Then, she handed off our order to a young male worker, and he made the wrong milkshake. Oh well. We didn’t mention it. He was busy talking about how he was putting in job applications elsewhere. Very awkward. I couldn’t wait to finish up our food to get out of there. I was practically wriggling in my seat. I just felt… unwelcome.
The candy selection was nice. It was amusing to browse through the toy store, although I would have been happier if that entire back room was filled with more candy instead of toys! There wasn’t much specialty chocolate, surprisingly. They did, however, have a lot of nostalgic wrapper candies, and that was fun to see. The menu was a bit smaller than I was expecting. There wasn’t a huge amount of variety, only 4 – 5 ice cream flavors, sodas, milkshakes, hot dog, pretzel, popcorn. I can appreciate the old general store feel, but I think they could do a little more to make the place modern. Blasts from the past are great, but the modern shopper expects more variety. There was nothing in Holland’s that would draw me to come back.

Nice candy selection in a shop with a nice nostalgic general store feel. You can find some candies that give you a blast from the past nestled among new favorites.
There is a small amount of seating and they serve phosphates!

You name it, they have it. In addition to their huge selection of all kinds of candy, including the nostalgic goodies, you have to try their shaved ice, milk shakes, phosphates and floats.
The store is just like an old time general store, complete with a soda fountain counter and wood floors! Located right in the center of the Washington Square, this place is a gem! The employees are so cheerful and helpful, and we always feel like kids again when we visit.
This place is worth your time!