Chocolate Works relocates, plans to expand offerings

Date: 1/4/2010

Jan. 4, 2010



By Courtney Llewellyn

Reminder Assistant Editor



EAST LONGMEADOW -- Founded in 1976, Chocolate Works had spent the last 18 years as a part of the Harkness Shoppes. Last month, it made a move and owner Erika Noble said it is ready to grow.

Noble, who has been running Chocolate Works for the past five years, said the move from Harkness Avenue to North Main Street was one of necessity.

"We outgrew the space," Noble said of the shop's old location. "We were there for so long but we were a destination. If you didn't know we were there ... The old location was great for what is was, but we wanted to offer more to the community."

Chocolate Works now has a much larger space and is much easier to find - it's located near Panera Bread in the Stop & Shop plaza. Noble said the store would never leave East Longmeadow, and that if she hadn't found a place in town to move the business to, she would not have moved it.

The new, larger space will allow Chocolate Works to host children's parties, which Noble is excited about. "Right now we're focusing on the kids, but I'd love to expand to do more, like offering chocolate-making classes to adults," she said. "We'll see what the future holds."

Chocolate Works' motto is that it is "a candy store and so much more," and Noble wants to continue that tradition.

"There are no specialty chocolate stores anymore," she said. What sets her store apart, in her opinion, is that all their candy is made the old fashioned way, by hand and on location.

Chocolate Works offers everything from penny candy, caramels and nut-free treats to jelly beans, truffles and cupcakes. Their most popular candies are their turtles (caramel poured over roasted almonds, cashews and pecans, and then covered with chocolate), their nonpareils (chocolate over a bed of sugar sprinkles), their clusters and their truffles.

The new location opened its doors on Dec. 5, and Noble said the business saw a lot of new customers visit during the holiday season. "The amount of traffic in the store has definitely increased," she said.

With only five employees, the hours at the new Chocolate Works will remain the same: Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the shop is closed on Sunday.

Noble invites everyone to stop by the new location at 446 North Main St. to "come in and taste the difference."

She plans on hosting a grand opening in the near future.

For more information on Chocolate Works, visit www.chocworks.com.