Two of the most popular foods to positively alter one’s mood are chocolate and coffee.
Until now, at least in the Midwest, no franchise has put together those two foods into one restaurant concept.
Great Lakes Chocolate & Coffee Co. combines gourmet chocolates, freshly roasted coffees, and other foods for those looking for a cocoa- or caffeine-based (or both) boost.
"There’s not any other coffee shop with gourmet chocolate — probably two of the things most consumed in America," says Brian Poole, co-owner of Great Lakes’ Kimberly location. "I think that makes us stand out."
The new store near Kimberly High School is the first Great Lakes store in Wisconsin; the other three are in Ann Arbor, Lansing and Sturgis, Mich. The Kimberly store is owned by Brian and Theresa Poole, a former pastor and church employee, respectively.
"We were changing careers, and we were looking for an opportunity," says Brian Poole. "My brother is a successful businessman, and he said instead of going to work for a company, start your own company, and when he said that, we thought about owning our own coffee house. I didn’t want to have to start from scratch; I wanted to hit the ground running, and I feel that’s what we’ve done."
The store offers both chocolate and non-chocolate drinks, such as fruit smoothies. The most popular drink is the Great Lakes Mocha, which contains chocolate, coffee and malted milk. The coffee is roasted each week at Great Lakes’ Michigan headquarters.
Chocolates range cover the spectrum from fruits (cherries and raisins, plus orange and raspberry jellies) to nuts (almonds, cashews, peanuts and pecans), plus caramels and truffles, pretzels and espresso beans, and combinations thereof, with milk, dark or white chocolate coating, even sugar-free. The store also offers breakfast and lunch items, including oatmeal, soups, salads, sandwiches and wraps.
The store offers a drive-thru as well as inside and outside seating. Gift cards are available.
Friends of the Pooles created the concept; "They realized that chocolate was a seasonal thing, and so they added coffee," says Brian Poole.
But apparently chocolate is not a seasonal thing in Wisconsin. "We’ve sold more chocolate than we expected," says Brian Poole. "We sell chocolate every day. They’ve been surprised at the amount of chocolate we’ve served."
Another surprise based on where the Pooles have previously lived: "From the very beginning, we’ve found people willing to bend over backwards to help us," says Brian Poole. "We’ve been very pleasantly surprised at how the community has accepted us."
"That whole mindset and attitude you don’t see everywhere," says Theresa Poole.
Even though being a church pastor is far from a 9-to-5 job, "I don’t know that I expected to work 90 hours a week when this started," says Brian Poole. "Hopefully I’ll be able to cut back to a normal 60-hour week."
Sales are "about two-thirds of where we need to be in four or five months," says Brian Poole. The Pooles own the rights to the franchise within a 50-mile radius of their first store; they plan to open future stores "in Appleton somewhere, or Green Bay or the Oshkosh area."
WHERE: 819 Schelfhout Lane Suite 108, Kimberly
WEB SITE: www.greatlakeschocolate.com
