Three sweet shops on one block?

As we anticipate the heat of summer, the competition among ice cream and yogurt businesses in Rockville Centre’s downtown business center will heat up as well.

Along N. Park Avenue, visitors can now find three relatively similar establishments not too far from each other — Ralph’s Italian Ices, Five Pennies Creamery and the Red Mango franchise that was set to open earlier this week.

“It’s not something you love,” said Ralph’s owner Gilda Bilardello, who has run the store for 13 years with her husband, Mike. “But you have to accept it as competition.”

Ralph’s, which recently moved from its Sunrise Highway location after losing its lease, has been slowly adjusting to its new home on N. Park Avenue. In the ongoing economic downturn, the ice cream shop has attracted loyal customers who save money by opting for the store’s less-expensive ice cream items. “In this economy, the prices we have are very good and affordable,” Bilardello said. “And we have something for everyone.”

Ralph’s boasts over 130 flavors and features ice cream, yogurt, smoothies and sundaes. Bilardello said she was initially afraid of her shop’s relocation — and the surge in local competition — but says she and her husband are embracing the changes, and hope it doesn’t have an ill-effect on long-term sales.

But just across the street from Ralph’s, Five Pennies Creamery might provide a nasty competitive hurdle. Featuring 100 ice cream flavors that are sold 32 at a time and made from scratch, Five Pennies offers a starkly different taste for ice cream lovers who choose it over other sweet shops on N. Park Avenue. “The purpose of our store is to give a new generation of kids a feel for an old school ice cream place, and for parents to have a feel for the old-fashioned shops of the 50s and 60s,” said owner Dan Levine.

He said he believes his establishment has been able to “weather the storm” in the competition with nearby businesses. “There is no choice but to deal with it,” said Levine, echoing Bilardello’s sentiments. “But our products are made by me personally and it boils down to whether or not someone wants a quality, homemade product, or one that’s made in a factory and shipped later on.”

Five Pennies opened in June 2010. Levine said that his small-store operation has attracted dependable customers who keep

returning for the yogurt, ice cream, milk shakes and sundaes he and his staff sell. He said he considers Rockville Centre to be “an ice cream loving village.” However, he admits he is not pleased with the competition and compared it to fast food chains.

Stan Shvartsberg, owner of the newly-opened Red Mango located two storefronts north of Five Pennies, agreed with this analogy. “Some people choose McDonald’s, some choose Taco Bell,” he said. “And our situation is similar.” Red Mango kicked off business operations earlier this week, and it offers frozen non-fat yogurt and smoothies.

Its stores are located in 25 of 50 states, and franchise operators say it is the fastest-growing retailer of all-natural frozen yogurt in the United States. But even that recognition doesn’t make its owner feel entirely comfortable, as he starts a new business in a village that some might say is flooded by too many eateries. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried,” Shvartsberg said. “But it’s a free market.”

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