FARGO — At a time when many businesses are struggling to find help and even to stay open, Lee Paseka and his Sweet Dreams Confections are thriving.
That is due in no small part to the store's many and varied offerings and a solid and loyal customer base.
And there is Paseka himself, who started the business 48 years ago and continues to work in the store seven days a week.
You heard right.
Paseka works seven days a week.
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And there were times during the early days of COVID when he was the only one manning the store.
According to Paseka, he's happy to devote so much time to the store because it fulfilled his boyhood dream of owning his own business. He said that achievement combined with the fun people find in his store create an elixir that happily keeps him going.
And now he is spreading out, too, as the store recently celebrated the completion of an expansion and remodeling project that involved broadening the store's footprint into an unused next-door space in the Village West Shopping Center on 13th Avenue South in Fargo.
The occasion was marked with help from the Fargo-Moorhead-West Fargo Chamber of Commerce and a ribbing cutting ceremony, during which Paseka told guests it has been "a pleasure and an honor" serving the area for nearly five decades.
Paseka said he likes to think his business has been the inspiration for at least a million smiles and as the ribbon-cutting wrapped up he sent folks on their way with his trademark, "Have a sweet day."
Paseka began his business in north Fargo with the opening of Lee’s Floral Party Place and Fudge Factory, which he operated for about 30 years before moving his store to 4101 13th Ave. S.
In addition to offering a lunch menu, Sweet Dreams Confections has chocolate candies and gelato, which are made in-house, as well as Pride of Dakota products.
Paseka said the expansion allowed for the enhancement of existing product lines, but he said it also made it physically easier for customers to navigate the store, including people with disabilities.
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One of the guests who attended the recent grand opening of the expanded store was Tori Schrantz.
Schrantz, who works for Make-A-Wish North Dakota, said Paseka is a supporter of the nonprofit so she makes a point of supporting Sweet Dreams Confections in return.
On top of that, she said, "They always have such unique goodies."
In addition to loyal customers, Paseka said another factor in the store's longevity is the family run nature of the operation and during the recent ribbon-cutting ceremony Paseka was joined by his wife, Brenda, and eldest daughter, Heather Klein.
Klein grew up in the business and Paseka has said he anticipates she will take over operations if a day comes when he and his wife decide to retire.
But one gets the feeling that as far as Lee Paseka is concerned, that day can take its time.
"This is my medical marijuana," he said. "This keeps me going."
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