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This is the 2nd of three profiles of neighborhood people who share their stories and perspectives for Hispanic Heritage Month.

The person at the rear of just one of Riverhead’s newest and most special eateries is one of its most bold businessmen. 

Christopher Aguilar, 25, proprietor of Mexicandy, a new snack and dessert shop on Most important Road in Riverhead, credits his mother and father, who are lifelong entrepreneurs, and his Hispanic heritage for instilling in him the determination and operate ethic essential to commence and do well in his have organization.

Aguilar opened Mexicandy this summertime. It serves Mexican specialties with a sturdy manufacturer identity and a playful, colourful aesthetic.

For the young company operator, Mexicandy is a lifelong dream. As a little one, he briefly lived in Yonkers, exactly where he frequented an ice cream shop identified as La Michoacana, which also served Mexican specialties. 

“It seems ridiculous to say,” Aguilar mentioned, but at age 5,  he was by now pondering that ice cream “would be great to get into.” 

“It has a whole lot to do with a Spanish history,” Aguilar mentioned. “Our parents instill a whole lot of really hard get the job done from a incredibly young age.” He talked about his dad and mom obtaining him do lawn operate and home restore. “Usually, children at that age, they just want to kick a ball around or something,” Aguilar stated, but he was now learning what he would will need to run his store.

Christopher Aguilar, proprietor of Mexicandy on East Primary Avenue in Riverhead, scoops his specialty Mexican ice cream for a customer at his store last 7 days. Image: Quint Nigro

While Aguilar’s dad and mom gave him the push he wanted to get off the floor, he didn’t have the cash to open up his foreseeable future Main Road store. His remedy? Make the merchandise at residence and hand-offer it. 

“I would glimpse for the consumers,” he claimed. He would go to neighborhood parks and soccer fields to promote his ice cream, even providing a free sample to skeptical clients.

He reported that though he was operating odd positions and development gigs at the time, he understood that if that was all he did, he “was never likely to get everywhere in life.” 

“I experienced to uncover something– who would have believed ice cream was my issue?”

He searched for his “thing” in California, Las Vegas and Mexico, locating other ice cream suppliers and businesspeople, doing the job below them and mastering from their craft. He took the awareness and abilities he learned from all above the continent again with him to Riverhead.

The shiny-yellow Mexicandy indicator is a testament to his attempts.

As soon as he experienced developed up clientele, his abilities and public fascination in his product or service, it was time for a actual physical site. 

“I knew Riverhead experienced to be the put in which I experienced to set the first keep,” Aguilar explained. “This is my neighborhood. This is wherever I grew up,” he claimed. “I enjoy Riverhead, and I imagine Riverhead enjoys me.”

Aguilar was crystal-distinct that, though Mexicandy is open and doing well, he has not stopped thinking about ways to develop and improve. 

He narrated a lifestyle dominated by his plans. “I eat, breathe, slumber Mexicandy,” Aguilar said. “There’s not a moment in my lifestyle wherever I’m not considering about it,” he said. “It may well audio harmful, but I truly want to improve this.” He mentioned that he wishes his keep to “become the up coming Baskin Robbins, the next Ralph’s Italian Ice, in my own niche– Mexicandy.”

To that conclusion, he is presently seeking to open up much more Mexicandy destinations. Ideal now, it’s a make any difference of discovering the proper spot. “It’s a waiting game,” Aguilar explained. He’s on to “the next, the third and the fourth, and so forth.” 

Aguilar thanked the community. “I’m really grateful for the welcoming,” he said. “I get a ton of really like.” Aguilar explained he was energized to see men and women coming in from the road, and notably thanked the “lots of repeat prospects.”

He admitted that it hasn’t been all roses, nevertheless. 

“I also get some despise.” He said that individuals egged the store’s window. “I really do not know why you are hating on ice product,” he reported, turning major for a moment . It didn’t acquire lengthy for Aguilar’s smile to return, though. “We consider to be as joyful as possible.”

Aguiar’s concept to Riverhead’s Hispanic group is uncomplicated: “Anything is achievable. Nearly anything is genuinely feasible. As long as you have your thoughts established, what you want to do, everything and anything is attainable.” He emphasized regularity and qualified perseverance as the keys to good results.

“I focused– and that was it.” Aguilar mentioned.


Extra in this sequence:

Trailblazing Riverhead cop displays on police get the job done, family, Hispanic heritage

A domestic violence survivor who counsels Latina girls in abusive associations, Noemi Sanchez talks about society, local community and healing

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