Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Co. is closing its Lake Forest Chocolates storefront at 7801 Clayton Road in Clayton. Co-owner and second-generation chocolatier Dan Abel, Jr. said the tentative closing date will be Saturday, March 11.
Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate bought the Lake Forest brand in 2009. At that time, production took up approximately 80 percent of the Clayton space, with the retail shop occupying the rest of the space. In 2012, the company moved production of Lake Forest confections to its newer facility on The Hill at 5025 Pattison Ave., and Abel said it has become cost-prohibitive to keep the storefront open.
“We’ve been looking at what to do for a few years, but since then we haven’t found a reason to have that extra space in the back,” Abel said. “It’s been sitting empty for five years, and with the lease coming up, we decided not to renew.”
Lake Forest products will still be available at all current retail locations.
Matt Sorrell is a staff writer for Sauce Magazine.
This article appears in February 2017.