SWEET SUCCESS
New flagship store signals continued rebirth for Master Chocolat by Jamie Zachary
L
ife is about to get a bit sweeter for Calgarians as iconic chocolatier Master Chocolat has opened the doors to a new state-of-the-art flagship store in southwest Calgary.
Located at #130 – 560 69th Avenue SW, just south of Chinook Centre, the retail and production facility opened in mid-November as part of ongoing expansion plans for a company that’s been around for just under four years, yet is built on more than a century of family history.
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A 30-metre-long window will provide line of sight to the significantly larger production space. A separate dedicated room will also allow Callebaut and his team to provide hands-on chocolate courses and host children’s parties, team-building events and seasonal festivities. “It’s about bringing that experiential content to another level. They will be able to see what’s happening. They can sit down, have a hot chocolate and watch what’s happening,” says Callebaut, a fourth-generation chocolatier.
“It’s really the next step for Master Chocolat,” says master chocolatier Bernard Callebaut, whose name has been synonymous with chocolate in the city for nearly four decades. “It is very exciting.”
“Retail is an experience. It’s still very much a brick-andmortar business. People still want to see, smell and taste the product. I don’t think that’s going away any time soon.”
The new Kingsland location replaces the previous one in Manchester Industrial Park, which Callebaut says was bursting at the seams. It also provides customers with added transparency into the chocolate-making process, including what goes into these delicious masterpieces.
The flagship store complements Master Chocolat’s existing footprints in both Marda Loop and the Calgary Farmers’ Market. It also extends some of those locations’ more popular features, including the opportunity for customers to make their own chocolate bar on the spot.