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July 2006
GOURMET NEWS
By Anna Wolfe
Long Beach Island, N.J. – Just in time for the Memorial Day weekend,
Chocolate bar opened its second location here May 26.
The 650-square-foot candy store is located at 218 Centre St. in
Beach Haven and has similar offerings to its award-winning West
Village store in Manhattan.
“I’ve watched Long Beach Island change and grow over the last seven
years,” said Owner Alison Nelson, whose parents own the Steal Away
Bed and Breakfast here. “If I didn’t open there, I knew I’d regret
it later on,” she said. “Now is the right time.” Nelson started
looking for space in January and found her storefront, a former
nail salon, in March.
Located right off the beach, the candy store is open seven days
a week, serving espresso, hot and iced chocolate, iced teas, iced
milk shakes, baked goods including muffins, croissants, spicy brownies,
cookies and scones. Just like the flagship Chocolate Bar, located
in the West Village, the store here offers truffles, chocolate bars
and toffee.
While the flagship features a brown décor with orange and walnut
accents, the store here has an orange décor with brown and walnut
wood shelving and a white counter. Both stores have the same square
footage but different layouts. The New York store is long and narrow
while the space here is square.
“I wanted to keep it open and accessible with clean lines,” she
said. “I wanted to create a respite from the heat and the sun.”
Located right off the beach, the store has tables and outside benches.
Next-door is the town’s theatre.
“Everybody loves chocolate,” said Nelson. “No one has opened a coffee
or tea bar. We expect to do a lot of to-go business,” Nelson said.
About two years ago, Nelson and her former business partner and
Chocolate Bar cofounder Matt Lewis decided to part ways and split
the business – The Chocolate Bar and the bakery Baked, which the
duo opened in November 2004 – in half, Nelson explained. Lewis operates
the 2,000-square foot bakery in the Red Hook neighborhood in Brooklyn.
For her store here, Nelson has called on her mother to supply the
baked goods.
“She has to bake them for her guests anyway,” Nelson said about
her innkeeper mother. “She’s a wonderful baker. Plus, I don’t have
to deal with minimums.” Nelson has another family member on the
payroll. Her sister, Tara Coppola, works as the store’s manager.
About two hours from New York City, the island is a vacation destination
for people from Philadelphia, Washington and New York. “It’s a great,
small beach community,” said Nelson, who was recognized as one Gourmet
News’ 20 under 40 in 2004. “It’s not overrun like the Hamptons or
the east end of Long Island. Everything is within walking distance.
It reminds me of a small town New York.”
Nelson isn’t sure whether the store here will be seasonal or opened
year round. “First year we’ll try and see how it goes. I’ll know
by next summer if it was worth for us to stay open. There are a
lot of year round residents.”
With both stores within a three – hour drive, “we won’t be stuck
with perishable stock,” she said. “We’re close enough to figure
that out along the way.”
The flagship Chocolate Bar, is located at 48 Eighth Avenue between
Horatio and Jane streets, is the winner of two Citysearch 2005 Awards
including “Best West Village Shopping” and “Best Gourmet Store."
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