How Sweet It Is chocolatier sells 23 products in 43 states, but when faced with an expansion, owner Lenny Cusenza decided to keep his business in East Lansing.
The expansion will bring Cusenza’s space from 1,000 square feet to about 1,440 square feet.
“We’re very excited because we’ll be able to double our production facilities and expand our retail,” he says.
How Sweet It Is will remain in East Lansing's Hannah Plaza, simply shifting operations from suite 4790 to suite 50, which is right across the parking lot.
“This center is staying relatively full and it has wonderful foot traffic, which is good,” he says. “We don’t have a lot of business failure here.”
How Sweet It Is got its start 15 years ago at county fairs, where Cusenza’s father 
made and then sold fudge. Eventually, Cusenza’s father opened a storefront in West Branch, which prompted his son to open one in East Lansing.
Now, Cusenza primarily sells to distributors such as gas stations. How Sweet It Is products can be found in gas stations throughout the U.S. He sells pretzel rods, truffles and peanut butter buckeyes, but it was the no-bake cookie that made a national reputation for How Sweet It Is.
“That’s really how we expanded our business; that’s what really took us out of state,” Cusenza says.
The expansion will allow Cusenza to expand his retail space as well. Not only does How Sweet It Is sell candy, they also sell molds and candy making products, such as flavoring. How Sweet It Is sells 10,000 to 12,000 pieces of candy during peak season.
Source: Lenny Cusenza, How Sweet It Is
Ivy Hughes is the managing editor of Capital Gains and can be reached here.
All Photographs © Dave Trumpie
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