Flavour of home helps Lucy feel top of the chocs
THE sweet smell of success is filling the air once again for a chocolatier having battled through a trying year for the business.
Lucy Waide launched the revamped Chockle’Art on Rawtenstall’s Bank Street earlier this month, and with hope renewed following the end of lockdown, is finding there’s no place like home.
The 43-year-old former teacher, from Haslingden, has spent all but eight years of her life in the Valley, and recently completed the transfer of her production base to Rossendale from Bolton.
With the closure of her Last Drop Village store, she is now excited to be able to focus fully on the Rawtenstall shop, which first opened last October but reopened on July 10 after a refurbishment.
It offers gifts, bars, chocolates, chocolate-based milkshakes and hot chocolates, chocolate-making workshops and classes, and a new Build a Bar area invites customers to drop in and make their own chocolate bar in around 20 minutes.
Lucy, whose assistant is her 17-year-old nephew Isaac, explained how the bottom suddenly fell out of her trade as the pandemic struck last year.
“We were attached to a hotel over in Bolton so with the hotel being closed we just weren’t getting the footfall,” she said.
“When we first went into lockdown we had all the Easter workshops ready to go and bookings worth £6,000 for Easter.
“I just stopped earning any money at all, and without any savings.
“That was such a scary time.”
Showing resilience in adversity again, Lucy, who had to give up her teaching career due to endometriosis exacerbated by two car accidents, adapted by developing workshop kits to post out to customers.
Including Isaac’s “brilliant” help, Lucy said the relaunch has been “a massive family affair”, with her dad doing the shop rebuild, and invaluable help from her sister and brother-inlaw, plus her mum keeping them all fed!
They have also had support from neighbouring traders, including collaborating on a summer holiday club of choc making, crafting and ceramics “Festival of Fun”, which got underway this week.
She said: “All the family are here so I feel like it’s going back home.
“Everyone is so supportive of each other.
“It’s looking positive and I’m getting to know some regulars.”
In a nod to her former profession, Lucy recently launched a popular range of end of term ‘thank you’ gifts for teachers.
She took up chocolate design and making when she was unable to continue her career at Rossendale School in Ramsbottom - where she was head of art and a Key Stage 3 English teacher.
“Physically I wasn’t able to do the job,” she admitted.
“Because it’s a special school you have to be able to control the class in a physical way if needs be.
“It’s not classed as a disability, but the actual condition is debilitating. When I came away from teaching I definitely struggled.
“I couldn’t get a job really because I couldn’t say I would be in [work] every day and couldn’t do any physical stuff.
“I started playing about with chocolate in 2013.
“I always messed about with cupcakes.
“But if you didn’t sell them they would go out of date quickly and you would have to chuck it.
“Chocolate lasts longer.”
The shop is open from 10.30am to 4pm Tuesday to Saturday and has a combined 11,000 followers on Facebook and Instagram.