ORANGE, Ohio -- It was announced earlier this year that Steve Presser would be closing his beloved Coventry Road store Big Fun in May, after 27 years.

At the time, Presser said he wouldn't retire and that he had some ideas in mind for his future. On Tuesday, Presser spoke of those plans at Pinecrest, the new upscale retail/entertainment development set to open in Orange, off Interstate 271, in June.

Presser is teaming with another beloved Cleveland business, Brookpark Road's Sweeties Candies to create Sweeties Big Fun, set to open at Pinecrest in late May.

"I can't tell you how excited I am about this," Presser said during a media tour that showed the progress being made at Pinecrest.

Presser and Sweetie's owner Tom Scheiman will open a 2,155-square-foot business just across from Pinecrest's village green, the grassy center of the development.

Sweetie's has been selling candy on Brookpark Road in Cleveland for 68 years and is now located in its fourth building on that road, built specifically for the business. Much like Big Fun, a Cleveland Heights store that sells toys and pop culture items to fun-loving people of all ages, Scheiman has made his business all about fun.

Sweeties sells candy and homemade ice cream among such amenities as an outdoor 36-hole miniature golf course and decor that includes a 1932 truck parked inside. Sweeties, the largest candy store in North America, will remain open at 6770 Brookpark Road.

"I've been his candy supplier for 20 years," Scheiman said of how he and Presser became friends.

Presser said the partners have been planning their combined businesses "for a while."

"Tom and I look at our businesses the same way," Presser said. "We both enjoy selling not just items, but entertainment. It's the whole experience."

Scheiman and Presser say that when customers step into Sweeties Big Fun, they will have fun.

The decor will include items from Cleveland's history, as well as quirky things such as a 1968 Volkswagen bus hanging from the ceiling and a six-foot-tall replica of the Eiffel Tower.

The theater-sized candy department will feature large film reels and clapboards. According to a release, "Local artists have been commissioned to create sculptures and works of art that represent Sweeties and Big Fun's approach to life, unique merchandise, fun display and the store's special customers."

Presser's Coventry Road location measures 3,400 square feet, so he won't have quite as much inventory as he does in his current store, but he promises lots of fun things.

"Everything that we'll be selling will make you smile," Presser said, "and you'll leave with a smile."

"We're going to have a big, roll-up door in front, so you don't even have to come in the store and you can buy popcorn or soda or soft serve ice cream," Scheiman said of one of the new store's features.

"We can hardly wait to get going," Presser said.

The Pinecrest development, built as a streetscape, will feature such businesses as Whole Foods Market, Williams Sonoma, AC Hotels by Marriott and Silverspot Cinema.

It will also include apartments for rent and a host of eateries.