Newton Highlands’ Indulge! opened its doors on a warm Sunday in mid-June 1991. Thirty-five years later, the iconic neighborhood candy shop is still a go-to favorite for assorted chocolates, bulk candy, gummies, nuts, and much, much more.
Indulge! has over 200 bins of various bulk candies and serves customers all over Newton and Greater Boston, offering their in-store candies as well as unique gifts and personalized baskets for holidays, anniversaries, and numerous other events.
During this year’s Highlands Village Day on June 14, Linda Gulman – a Highlands native and the owner and founder of Indulge! – received a testimonial commendation from the City of Newton, presented by Ward 6 Councilors Martha Bixby, Sean Roche, and Lisa Gordon.
Gulman also celebrated the 35th anniversary by offering candy at 1991 prices to all visitors during Highlands Village Day.
Gulman said that the business had come from humble beginnings but was able to reach its acclaimed status through hard work, constant innovation in the face of adversity, and a deep commitment to serving customers as well as possible.
According to Gulman, the idea to establish Indulge! had been influenced by several things: first, her natural creativity, which she further developed as an art major in college, as well as her experience managing and working at a jewelry store, where she made jewelry from scratch.
On a trip to Florida, where she and her husband saw a candy shop, Gulman said she had looked at the shop and thought, “I could do that so much better.” Indulge! was born shortly after.
“That would be so cute. I could definitely do that,” Gulman said. “So we kind of looked into space. We lived here in the Highlands. We lived in the old schoolhouse. And we looked at it, you know, we had the idea to do it, but there wasn’t space available. and a year later, when space became available, I said to my husband, ‘I really still want to do it.’ And so we ended up opening – not even knowing a business plan – I really, by the skin of my teeth, opened the store.”
When Gulman first opened the store, she said the selection was much more limited – offering only bulk candy and party favors – compared with how it is now. Gulman also had virtually no advertising, owing to both a small advertising budget and also the technological limitations of the day, when there was no social media or cell phones.
Instead, said Gulman, Indulge! had to find its customers through reputation alone, and Gulman made sure to establish a good one.
“We just relied on people coming in the door,” said Gulman. “We’ve had the same customers that we had from when we first opened and, you know, we’re very accommodating. We’re very friendly. Everybody that works for me… they have to be outgoing. You’ll never come in here and say somebody has an attitude. You have to be accommodating all the time. I definitely jump through hoops for people.”
Gulman recalled a story in which one of her clients wished to buy chocolate roses for his wife to celebrate their anniversary. The store did not have any such roses available, so Gulman contacted her local distributor and specially sourced the roses for the client.
The client’s wife was unhappy with the taste of the roses, so Gulman happily replaced them with something better. In the end, said Gulman, the wife “has been one of my best friends ever since and has worked for me ever since.”
“We have very, very loyal customers who love what we do and the service we give them. We’re very accommodating, and that’s really important to me. I mean, as a customer of other places, I’m not going somewhere if people aren’t making an effort. So we definitely make an effort, and that’s really how we’ve gained customers and that’s how we’ve gained repeat customers. We have extremely loyal customers that have been here as long as I’ve been in business,” Gulman said.
In addition to obliging customers’ desires, Gulman said that an essential factor in the store’s success has been its adaptability, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, which had forced the closure of several other candy stores, including two in Chestnut Hill, according to Gulman.
“I was not going to let the pandemic decide when I’m going out of business,” Gulman said. “[I was] going to hustle.”
Gulman said that Easter had come around the time that the pandemic started, and she had received thousands of dollars worth of Easter candy, which she resolved to put to good use. Gulman posted on social media, called customers firsthand, and “ran around like a crazy person” to ensure that customers received their candy.
“You kind of have to either have to go all in or not. I definitely went all in. When you own your own business, just in general, you just have to be there for people,” Gulman said.
To those who wish to start their own businesses, Gulman said that she “can’t stress enough” that they should just do it.
“This has been going on for 35 years, which is such a lot. I was so young, 29, when I opened. And some people were like, ‘You really think you can make money running a candy store?’ And I’m like, ‘why not?’ and now it’s a great business, and I definitely have a lot of pride and a lot of satisfaction from making it happen and having it be a success.”