Chocolopolis

Remember all the times chocolate made you happy? The smile both external and internal? Chocolopolis brings that Willy Wonka sense of adventure and exhilaration (without the distraction of the oompa loompas).

Chief Chocophile Lauren Adler has always loved chocolate and will even admit to her first addiction: Hershey’s milk chocolate. After getting an undergraduate degree in history at the University of Virginia, she became an investment banker with Merrill Lynch in New York. She then got her MBA at Dartmouth and worked for a supermarket chain where she ran the in-store bakery division, responsible for 50 stores. "I loved it—it was like running my own business with someone else’s money," Lauren laughs. "I love the business of retail, food and people." She moved to Seattle to work as a director of the Supply Chain Group for Amazon in 1998.

Photo: Owner Lauren Adler

Deciding to open a retail chocolate store, she began serious research. "I’m not normally a non-fiction reader," she says. "But as I got into the socio-economic issues of cacao, I couldn’t put the books down." She looked at many neighborhoods and decided to open on upper Queen Anne. "I wanted to be in a dense city neighborhood with lots of foot traffic, close to downtown. Queen Anne has that, plus the cozy, lovely business district. I didn’t want a gift store, I wanted to create an experience, tell the story behind chocolate and get to know my customers. Queen Anne has turned out to be the right choice. We have regulars who will come in every day for a cup of drinking chocolate, hold a business meeting or come to our events. I’ve joined the Queen Anne Merchants Association and really like being part of a group who cares about making the neighborhood experience good." The shop opened in July 2008.

She’s come a long way from her Hershey days and although she still likes milk chocolate, has turned toward the dark side. "The first great chocolate I had was Chocolat Bonnat from Madagascar that has a certain fruitiness. If someone hasn’t experienced good chocolate, I still start them with that." Chocolopolis has one of the best selections of chocolate bars in the country, all from bean-to-bar makers. "We’re very particular about what we bring in. We’re always looking for new makers, but careful that the team is happy with the flavor. There are things I don’t like, but if my employees do, then we’ll bring them in."

While Lauren loves the local movement, she feels people need to be realistic. "We don’t grow cacao beans here, so it’s not going to be local. Seattle has wonderful chocolatiers who make product here. Some of them are well-represented at local stores. I’m looking to offer a diversity of product, so I don’t carry it if it’s in nearby stores." Being realistic also includes issues like fair trade. To be fair trade certified, you pay more to ensure farmers get paid fairly. But most of the bean-to-bar chocolate makers already pay 2-1/2 to an incredible 9 times the world market rate for cacao, more than they would as part of fair trade. So why pay for fair trade as well? "Issues like this are never black and white," says Lauren. "We want people to know that and realize the best may not be local and may not be fair trade certified. We simply want people to keep an open mind. Do your research, try it out and then make your decision."

In addition to bars, they offer a menu of drinking chocolates. People will create their own tastings to compare the drinks, buying several and sharing. Chocolopolis also sells confections made by Christopher Elbow out of Kansas City and Thomas Haas from Vancouver, B.C. "These are good people, good business people and perfectionists. I’m so happy they sell to us. Some people are good at the art and some at the business. They’re good at both." Chocolopolis also has their own chocolatiers on staff who make confections by hand onsite. One of their bars (dark chocolate, local Washington hazelnuts, sour cherries, sea salt) is sold both at the store and at two Starbucks locations.

The experience Lauren wants people to enjoy is both educational as well as tasty. Happy hour takes place at the Queen Anne store each Thursday from 5-9 p.m. with a theme, giving people the opportunity to learn about the cacao bean and taste differences. If a chocolate maker is in town, they try to bring him/her in for presentations. They’ve had presentations from the daughter of an Ecuadorian farmer and a University of Washington PhD whose thesis was on the cacao trade in Ghana. "We’re geeky about chocolate, but it’s always fun." Events are listed on their website, blog, Facebook page and Lauren sends Twitter reminders. They’ll continue to build the educational component around fine cacao and what Lauren feels will happen in the future.

Her wholesale and online businesses are growing. There are plans to upgrade the shopping cart on their website. "That part of the business has started to grow on its own and we need to ensure the site is ready for that growth." They opened a seasonal store in The Shops at The Bravern in October which will stay open through the end of February 2011.

Whether you’re looking for a moment of pure chocolate bliss, a place to relax over a cup of steaming chocolate or a way to learn more about the bean, Chocolopolis should be your destination.

Connie Adams/January 2011

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