Chocolate company opens its first shop
Hurst: Vicky Crossey says unit came about due to demand
A Hurst-based chocolate company has opened its first chocolate shop this month.
For the first time in its 36year history Chocolate for Chocoholics will sell its luxury Belgian and Swiss-made chocolates from the site of its old dairy farm on Lea Farm Road.
Shoppers who previously purchased online or visited the site for occasional end of line sales and chocolate-making workshops, can now browse the shelves and purchase popular items such as chocolate cupcakes and boxes of chocolates, or seasonal items such as white chocolate pumpkins and polar bear hot chocolate bombs.
The grand opening on Saturday was attended by members of the public and the village’s MP, Theresa May, who officially declared the shop open with the cutting of a turquoise
silk ribbon.
Goodie bags full of fudge and items like chilli truffles were offered to the first 50 visitors who dropped-in to show their support.
Vicky Crossey, part of the family who started the business in 1986, said that the chocolate shop is ‘her baby’ and that the shop came about due to public demand.
“A lot of people were coming down the lane asking to buy chocolate for a party or for a birthday,” she said.
“We could give them a brochure and say ‘our picking room is really our production room so I’ll run and grab you something’.
“We realised over the years that the customers quite like seeing products laid out.
“We had these buildings here already and thought over the summer: let’s just try a shop and see how it goes.”
Vicky said that the feedback has been ‘fantastic’.
“The launch was really busy and so was our first official day on Monday.
“People were popping in to grab last minute Halloween gifts or looking at Christmas gifts and anniversary or birthday presents.”
The shop will be run by staff who have worked at Chocolate for Chocoholics for over a quarter of a century.
“We are all one extended family here and by having such knowledgeable staff in the shop is great because they know all about allergens and special products that we have and they can help people pick unique gifts.”
Also new this year is a
‘Santa’s Grotto’, taking place throughout December, where children can make Christmas chocolate lollies and ‘reindeer food’ before seeing Santa.
“We are trying something new but with a chocolate twist – that’s what we do best,”
Vicky said.
The opening of the shop follows on from a successful Etsy store last year.
Planning permission has been acquired for other buildings on the site for future expansion.