This is the second of three profiles of local residents who share their stories and perspectives for Hispanic Heritage Month.
The man behind one of Riverhead’s newest and most unique eateries is one of its most ambitious businessmen.
Christopher Aguilar, 25, owner of Mexicandy, a new snack and dessert shop on Main Street in Riverhead, credits his parents, who are lifelong entrepreneurs, and his Hispanic heritage for instilling in him the motivation and work ethic needed to start and succeed in his own business.
Aguilar opened Mexicandy this summer. It serves Mexican specialties with a strong brand identity and a playful, colorful aesthetic.
For the young business owner, Mexicandy is a lifelong dream. As a child, he briefly lived in Yonkers, where he visited an ice cream shop called La Michoacana, which also served Mexican specialties.
“It sounds crazy to say,” Aguilar said, but at age 5, he was already thinking that ice cream “would be cool to get into.”
“It has a lot to do with a Spanish background,” Aguilar said. “Our parents instill a lot of hard work from a very young age.” He talked about his parents having him do yard work and home repair. “Usually, kids at that age, they just want to kick a ball around or something,” Aguilar said, but he was already learning what he would need to run his store.
Although Aguilar’s parents gave him the drive he needed to get off the ground, he didn’t have the capital to open his future Main Street shop. His solution? Make the product at home and hand-sell it.
“I would look for the customers,” he said. He would go to local parks and soccer fields to sell his ice cream, even giving a free sample to skeptical customers.
He said that although he was working odd jobs and construction gigs at the time, he knew that if that was all he did, he “was never going to get anywhere in life.”
“I had to find something– who would have thought ice cream was my thing?”
He searched for his “thing” in California, Las Vegas and Mexico, finding other ice cream vendors and businesspeople, working under them and learning from their craft. He took the knowledge and skills he learned from all over the continent back with him to Riverhead.
The bright-yellow Mexicandy sign is a testament to his efforts.
Once he had built up clientele, his skills and public interest in his product, it was time for a physical location.
“I knew Riverhead had to be the place where I had to put the first store,” Aguilar said. “This is my community. This is where I grew up,” he said. “I love Riverhead, and I think Riverhead loves me.”
Aguilar was crystal-clear that, although Mexicandy is open and doing well, he hasn’t stopped thinking about ways to expand and improve.
He narrated a life dominated by his goals. “I eat, breathe, sleep Mexicandy,” Aguilar said. “There’s not a moment in my life where I’m not thinking about it,” he said. “It might sound unhealthy, but I really want to grow this.” He said that he wants his store to “become the next Baskin Robbins, the next Ralph’s Italian Ice, in my own niche– Mexicandy.”
To that end, he is currently trying to open more Mexicandy locations. Right now, it’s a matter of finding the right spot. “It’s a waiting game,” Aguilar said. He’s on to “the second, the third and the fourth, and so forth.”
Aguilar thanked the community. “I’m very grateful for the welcoming,” he said. “I get a lot of love.” Aguilar said he was excited to see people coming in from the street, and particularly thanked the “lots of repeat customers.”
He admitted that it hasn’t been all roses, however.
“I also get some hate.” He said that people egged the store’s window. “I don’t know why you’re hating on ice cream,” he said, turning serious for a moment . It didn’t take long for Aguilar’s smile to return, though. “We try to be as happy as possible.”
Aguiar’s message to Riverhead’s Hispanic community is simple: “Anything is possible. Anything is really possible. As long as you have your mind set, what you want to do, anything and everything is possible.” He emphasized consistency and professional dedication as the keys to success.
“I focused– and that was it.” Aguilar said.
More in this series:
Trailblazing Riverhead cop reflects on police work, family, Hispanic heritage
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