Gainesville will soon be home to a chocolate shop with products that have as much variety as Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.
Drenched in Chocolate will have its grand opening Dec. 15 and Dec. 16 and will include guest presenter Paris Themmen, who played young cowboy fan Mike Teevee in the 1971 “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.” On Dec. 16, Themmen is scheduled to present a golden ticket to Mayor Craig Lowe as part of the shop’s official opening, said Drenched in Chocolate co-owner Kay Owens.
The shop will open its doors before the grand opening, probably about Dec. 7, but Owens said the exact date is still being set.
The store will be located at the Millhopper Shopping Center on the corner of Northwest 16th Boulevard and Northwest 43rd Street, and the grand opening events will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Dec. 15 and noon to 5 p.m. on Dec. 16.
Owens said the prices will range from 99 cents to about $1.50 a piece.
While the main shop is opening in December, a kiosk selling a selection of their chocolate is planned to open next week in The Oaks Mall, which will be run by Owens’ 21-year-old son Zach.
“It’s right next to the child’s play area,” Owens said. “We thought that might be a good idea.”
Owens, who has been making chocolate for 25 years, comes from a family of confectioners. Her mother owned a doughnut shop, and her brother was a chocolatier.
Owens said Drenched in Chocolate will sell traditional treats such as fudge, caramel-covered apples and marshmallows that are all made in the shop. It will also have some out-of-the-ordinary goods, including chocolate spaghetti, chocolate-covered bugs and chocolate toothpaste.
Another distinctive characteristic Drenched in Chocolate will provide is chocolate photography, which allows customers to scan photos or other images onto their chocolate.
“It’s a relatively new technology,” Owens said. “The image is scanned onto the chocolate as a thin layer of sugar.”
For their artisan collection, the chocolate is made from ingredients from around the world such as cinnamon from Ecuador and Devon cream from England.
Lizzy Wetzel, an 18-year-old UF zoology freshman, said she looks forward to visiting the shop to cure her sweet tooth.
“If I hear the word chocolate, I’m happy,” she said.
As far as a target audience for Drenched in Chocolate, Owens said it aims for the audience its name suggests: chocolate lovers.
“Whatever your chocolate mood, we have you covered,” she said.
