Cleveland Franchises; The First Ever Chocolate Bar To Open Downtown

Courtesy of FreeFoto.com

You asked to be informed of new franchises when I asked you to vote on topics you would like to see covered more, so here you go!

For those that don't like to go to a bar, bar, this new franchise concept could be sweet...

Scheduled to open in Cleveland in November, the Chocolate Bar’s first franchise will fill 5,000 square feet in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Cleveland’s bustling Gateway District at Euclid and Fourth streets. Four more locations are in the works for Florida, Indiana, Pittsburgh and Toronto, but have hit financing snags as banks clamp down on lending.

Well, someone had to be the first franchise owner. What do you think? Does a bar that serves decadent chocolate desserts sound like a concept that could work? Comment below!

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**UPDATE, May 12th, 2010

A little Cleveland birdie just told me that they're building a patio there. I wonder if there will be any melting going on this summer...

Would you like to be the franchise owner of The Chocolate Bar? (Or any franchise business?)

If so, I strongly suggest that you first learn what a franchise really is, and find out if you're cut out for it. It could be sweet...

Go Here To Learn

Comments

[The Franchise King]

Ryan,

Contact me at thefranchiseking at sbcglobal dot net I have some info on the team that's doing the franchise development for them.

The Franchise King
Joel Libava

[Ryan Neal]

Can anyone point me in the right direction to contact the franchise? I live in Florida in a high volume tourist market and would like to possibly become a part of it!

Thanks!

[Mmgood]

From what I understand this new venue will be mainly chocolate but boasts several small dishes by Chef Wyatt Grace from "the used to be great restaurant Ponte Vecchio!" How great to see him down on culinary row! That is where he belonged in the first place, not stuck on some old dead end bridge that was hard to get to surrounded by cardboard condos...
Congrats Chocolate bar and Chef Grace you will be great at the head of the table on Clevelands Culinary row at East Fourth and Euclid in the Old Grande Arcade! I am sure that Clevelanders will soon be saying How sweet it is!

[USPTO.GOV]

BIG PROBLEM: Isn't there already a well-known CHOCOLATE BAR that's open in New York & Dubai? A simple google search shows www.chocolatebarnyc.com was established in 2001 and that is followed 14 pages of press coverage????

Call me crazy but it seems that this same Chocolate Bar also owns a couple of trademarks and that is a huge problem for any brand that has not followed very necessary due diligence.

[The Franchise King]

Robert,
Thank you for commenting, and taking chocolate seriously!

Mel,

I am still thinking about how I should respond to you.

You can be a little dangerous :)

The Franchise King
Joel Libava

[Mel]

I look at that space every single day from my apartment window. I am so excited for its open!

Yes, many restaurants do fabulous desserts (as mentioned above), but it's different being ONLY chocolate.

Next, we need ice cream. Just saying. There's not an ice cream shop within walking distance of the downtown area of E4th that I know of.

(BTW, moved computers in the office...)

[twitter.com/RobertStockham]

The only problem I see is the competition on 4th. Some of these restaurants are already doing great desserts. In Portland and we had several great dessert spots that basically sold just desserts and coffee. People would go out for dessert and travel 20 miles. Here, I think that it might be a tougher sell, since suburbanites hate to travel downtown anyway...but I will go!

[The Franchise King]

Carole,
I agree.Let's wish them the best!

The Franchise King
Joel Libava

[Carole Cohen]

5,000 sq feet of chocolate? I'm drooling now. Seriously, it's nice to see a different type of franchise opening here.