Loco for Coco is preparing for the Chocolate Marathon aka Valentine’s Day! When you’re the Triad’s Premier Chocolate Shop, prepping for the Valentine’s Day rush is a little like getting ready for the Super Bowl. Loco for Coco owners, Betsy, Amie and Peter Gauthier, know their bodies, minds and bow-making fingers need to be in prime condition for the chocolate gift rush that typically begins about February 1.
Two Sweet Women!!!
Cardio-vascular and strength training exercises help the Gauthier family members spend long days on their feet, preparing boxes of chocolate for shipment to faraway destinations and for local customers. Finger dexterity exercises help their hands tie hundreds – sometimes thousands of hot pink and coco-brown ribbons on their boxes. Yoga provides the centering for 12 – 15 hour days in the shop and chocolate itself is the fuel that energizes each of them.
The bow!
“A careful audit of last year’s Valentine’s Day favorites strongly influences the inventory we’re receiving for this year,” said Betsy Gauthier, co-owner. “We’re including our customers’ favorites and a few new things like the always popular wine lovers chocolate along with some fun things like chocolate body paint and chocolate lovers dice!
We heart chocolate!
“Our truffles are a top-selling item,” commented Amie Gauthier, co-owner, “So we’ve ranked the top flavors and we’ll have an abundance of those truffles, plus a few unexpected flavors too. Every type of chocolate available in our store was carefully taste-tested and selected by our family. So we know every customer will find their favorites – and their Valentine’s favorites here,” she noted.
Life is Like a Box of Chocolates!
In the flurry of activity that precedes Valentine’s Day are the sheer logistics of preparing boxes of chocolates, keeping display cases stocked, greeting and serving customers, answering the ever-ringing phone and pulling in orders that arrive via the Loco for Coco web site. The assortment of customers streaming through the door of the shop is as varied as the chocolate inventory. Husbands, wives, sons, daughters, sweethearts, grandparents, in-laws and outlaws are celebrating their loved ones. Employers, employees and friends are also sharing chocolates. There’s a high school boy with multiple girlfriends who buys three identical boxes of chocolates, and then returns a few minutes later when he remembers to buy a gift for his mother.
Sweet and Salty!
Couples stop in to buy Valentine’s Day items for their family and to point out their individual “wish list” choices to one another. And it’s not unusual to see a gift-giver make purchases for loved ones and include something for him or herself to savor.
Don't forget your teachers too!
The last-minute shoppers darken the doorway just before closing time on Valentine’s Day itself. “We recognize the look of panic on the face of a husband or boyfriend when he realizes he needs to do something special and has just a few minutes to get it done,” said Betsy. “And we’re ready for him with chocolate assortments of favorite truffle flavors. His girlfriend or wife receives a nice gift, and we’ve even heard of a few cases where she’s returned an empty box to him, hinting that a refill is needed.”
hearts and love
One of Loco for Coco’s best stories, related by Amie, was the Post-It note shopping list. She said “A man came in with a yellow Post-It note, kissed with lipstick and a list of her chocolate preferences. His wife had left her wish list affixed to his wallet, and he brought it to us. We took good care of her and hope she shared her chocolates with him.”
Even those who are allergic to chocolate find an unusual assortment of chocolate-themed gifts at Loco for Coco. A Chocole-opoly game allows players to buy chocolate-themed properties and collect chunks of chocolate. Scented candles, hats, décor and sensuous lotions are among the cleverly-conceived, non-edible gifts.
Après-Valentine’s Day, the Gauthier family will relax for a day, soak their feet and maybe experience a massage (with chocolate-scented massage oil of course) before returning to the store. For chocolate is a year-round favorite and Valentine’s day is quickly followed by St. Patrick’s day, Easter, Mother’s Day, weddings…and the everyday holiday – “I’m buying chocolate for myself today.”
SEEK is famous for saying “I’m buying chocolate for myself today”. We can’t get enough Chocolate Sea Salt Truffles! Our favorite by far, we even took a dozen on our road trip to Nashville last week!!!
Fun for ALL
Contact: Betsy or Amie Gauthier
336/333-0029
amie@locoforcoco.com
www.locoforchocolate.com
Located at :
1420-D Westover Terrace
Greensboro, NC 27408
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
There are so many goodies; I was suprised how great the chocolate dipped chocolate chip cookie was (it did not last very long).