Apr 8, 2009

Tasty Homemade Chocolate Easter Favorites Are Ready at Thomas Sweet Chocolate ShopBy Jean StrattonTownTopics.com

The windows at the Thomas Sweet Chocolate Shop beckon. Filled with a delightful Easter display, they entice the customer to enter. Inside, the aroma of freshly made chocolate and the selection of chocolate rabbits, lambs, chicks, eggs, and baskets proves irresistible.

It is true — nobody doesn’t like Thomas Sweet! With all those delectable choices — whether chocolate or ice cream — Thomas Sweet is truly sweet tooth heaven. And where better to find all the wonderful Easter treats?

“I’m transported back to my childhood and the excitement surrounding the arrival of the Easter bunny and basket,” says a long-time customer.

“We do transcend time here,” agrees owner Marco Cucchi. “It’s a happy business. Customers are happy when they come in because of the anticipation, and happy when they leave.”

Opened originally in 1979 by Thomas Block and Thomas Grim, Thomas Sweet was located on Nassau Street. The store initially offered homemade candy, and later added ice cream. There are now two locations: 29 Palmer Square West for chocolates and 183 Nassau Street for ice cream. Both the chocolate and ice cream are made on the premises daily.

Mr. Cucchi became part-owner in 2005 and sole owner in 2008, and his story exemplifies much of what Thomas Sweet has meant to so many in Princeton over the past 30 years.

“I was a scooper back in the ’80s when I was in high school,” he recalls. “It was a dream of mine that one day I could own something like Thomas Sweet.”

After graduating from Fordham Business School, Mr. Cucchi had a 15-year career as a management consultant and was vice president at Mastercard. “Consulting is a great business,” he points out, “but you travel a lot, and I really wanted to be part of a community. Thomas Sweet was a wonderful opportunity to be in the community, and it’s a terrific business.”

Continuing the tradition that Mr. Block and Mr. Grim had established, Mr. Cucchi emphasizes quality ingredients and freshness. He is very much a hands-on owner, he adds. “I’m in the stores. I keep in touch with the customers, and I also do four shifts a week at the ice cream store, scooping and making ice cream.

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