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Business & Tech

Chocolate Shop Dazzles in SoHo

Schakolad Chocolate Factory has the essential ingredients - location, word of mouth, and old-fashioned customer service. And there's the amazing chocolate, too!

It started with a Google search for “Businesses in Tampa.”

Archie Bourne had returned from a yearlong Army deployment in Iraq in September 2010. Bourne searched the phrase in order to find something he and his wife Jodie could share after so much time apart.

After some web surfing, he found an interesting hit: Schakolad Chocolate Factory. The SoHo property, at 408 S. Howard Ave., was for sale.

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Bourne, 40, jumped on the opportunity and assumed franchise ownership on New Year’s Day, 2011. Despite knowing little about chocolate making, Bourne became a skilled chocolatier – learning how to combine the exact amounts of sugar, cream and cocoa to create the perfect chocolate. Bourne's first attempt at making truffles won Best of Show at this year’s Festival of Chocolate at Tampa’s Museum of Science and Industry.

Bourne now fills store shelves with batches of his smooth ganaches, truffles, and custom chocolate molds. Presently, there are about 70 types of chocolate items sold at Schakolad.

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“When they take a bite, and I see their ‘wow!’ face. How can I not be happy?” said Bourne.

The roots of Schakolad go back to the 1960’s when Baruch “Bernie” Schaked opened a chocolate shop in North Miami. Bernie had learned the craft of chocolate making from his father-in-law, Gustavo, a master chocolatier in Argentina. Together, Bernie and his son Edgar created the Schakolad Chocolate Factory in 1995. When Bernie retired, Edgar continued in the chocolate business, and he began franchising Schakolad in 1999.  Today, there are 32 stores in the United States and three in Israel.

These days the Bournes fill all sorts of chocolate orders at their SoHo shop. They create everything from chocolate picture frames with rice paper photographs to edible business cards. Their clients include Tampa General Hospital and the Hard Rock Casino.

It’s not hard selling chocolate, says Bourne. Half the battle is won thanks to phenethylamine, a powerful chemical in the brain released when one falls in love or eats chocolate.

Bourne also attributes his success to the shop's prime location, high quality ingredients, and good old-fashioned customer service.

“They are not just getting a retail store, they are getting a relationship," Bourne said.

Most of the shop's business is through word of mouth and referrals, and Bourne is always looking for new ways to reach his market. He's now taking advantage of the power of social networking by printing QR codes onto flyers, which when scanned with bar-code applications on smart phones, will provide company information and a link to the Schakolad Facebook page.

Schakolad regularly books private “Sweet Night Out” events where guests can enjoy chocolate and wine tastings, unlimited samples, and personal chocolate making sessions – all for $20 per person.

Unlike other popular gourmet chocolate franchises such as Godiva and Ghirardelli, Schakolad's chocolates contain no preservatives and are made in the store everyday.

“When you eat fine chocolate, you eat till your satisfied, not till your full” said Bourne.

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