Chocolate, the mere mention of it brings back memories...drinking hot cocoa and warming myself in front of a bonfire in my home town's ice skating park and that special box of chocolate I received from my first sweetheart on my first Valentine's Day dance. Whether you're a toddler, a teen, a young mom or grandparent, chocolate stirs memories and feelings like no other food on earth.
While in Chicago last month at the WOMMA Conference, a friend told me "you have to go down the street to ethel's chocolate lounge". So after a busy morning of meetings I found this chocolate oasis. OK, I admit it, I am a bonafide chocoholic. In my refrigerator is my weekly stash of dark chocolate with orange peel, so when I found ethel's I had to share my good fortune with you and 30 of my closest friends!
Imagine a place to sit and chat over hot chocolate, a place to take your "coffee" break with tea and truffles, a neighborhood place to enjoy chocolate fondue with your book club - now imagine ethel's, an environment that invites you and your friends to sit, relax, indulge and enjoy!
As women we all know that chocolate stirs something deep inside us...a combination of love, passion and pleasure. I suppose this is why ethels made such an impression on me - but I am not alone. Within weeks of launching stores in Chicago, the Wall Street Journal and most recently Time Magazine wrote stories about ethel's - MARS Inc.'s entree into the premium chocolate business.
Unlike the chocolate untouchables, behind the glass of the Godivas and Fanny Farmers of the world, ethel's has created a new position for premium chocolate. According to John Haugh, the President of ethel's , "ethel's is really about two launches, the first, is the concept of approachable chocolate, chocolate for everyday enjoyment, not just for the holiday or special occasion purchase.
The second is a new environment from which you can enjoy chocolate. A social setting which invites conversation and encourages friends to meet and linger."
Everything about ethel's design speaks to the concept of approachability. The warm pink and brown furnishing, seating arrangements which encourage conversation, and whimsical books on the History of Chocolate provide an inviting backdrop to your favorite chocolate pastime. Meeting the flavor and filling wishes of a market from kids to grandparents could have been challenging, but ethel's has solved this taste dilemma by developing various collections of chocolates to meet everyone's palate. If you like Fruit, or Nuts and Caramels, or if you have a passion for Truffles or wax nostalgic for the flavors of your childhood (peanut butter and jelly, anyone?) ethel's has it all. And, these clearly defined collections, assure against that much dreaded bite into a piece of mystery chocolate AND the resulting desperate search for a napkin - or worse yet- the palm of your hand.
I've thought a lot about the word approachable and how important this concept is to all products and services. Think about how different your automobile, healthcare and home buying experience would be if these industries would take a lesson from ethel's book. Just how approachable is the mortgage lending and real estate buying process with its volumes of paper to read and that only an attorney can understand. What about healthcare insurance - I think it could qualify as the most UN-approachable service industry there is. Taking a lesson from MARs, they could have just created great chocolate and let it "sell itself", but they knew better, they knew in retail that everything counts and its the little things that make a difference. But how wonderful those "little things" are at ethel's!
Where in Chicago???
Posted by: Roberta | March 02, 2006 at 06:46 PM