Twenty Degrees Chocolates, the artisan chocolatier inside of Myers Park wine shop Petit Philippe, is expanding to its own brick-and-mortar location in South End’s Design Center, and hopes to open its doors before Thanksgiving.

The chocolate shop, named for where cacao is grown in relation to the equator, will be the reverse balance of Petit Philippe, according to co-owner Casey Hickey. Hickey says she and her husband and business partner, Mark Meissner, have been hoping to expand Twenty Degrees for years, but couldn’t find the right space. They only needed 500 square feet, a challenge in the Charlotte market.

“All the new developments are 1,500 to 4,000 [square feet],” Hickey says. “We just got so lucky that the particularly odd shape of the retail portion of the Design Center permitted this little sliver that we have.”

They’ll sell the bonbons they have built their reputation on, but will expand into more shelf-stable items, such as bars, chocolate-covered nuts, malt balls, and caramels. There will be sparkling wine on tap, and a few small tables as well as outdoor seating.

As Hickey planned for the expansion, she says she and Meissner took the time to take a holistic look at the business. As a result, Twenty Degrees is working to minimize its environmental impact.

“I just started to get sick thinking about the volume of plastic, so we have made a massive shift toward using glass jars,” Hickey says, hoping customers will reuse them for salad dressings or bacon grease at home.

The shop is currently undergoing its final inspections, and Hickey hopes to have its doors open in time to prepare for the post-Thanksgiving shopping rush. Aside from a few remaining cosmetic pieces, construction is complete and retail staff is being hired. She says the interior is designed to feel luxurious, like a jewelry box, and is decorated with red lacquer shelves with brass accents.

“We just want it to feel special,” she says. “It’s tiny. It’s going to have its own personality, the same way Petit Philippe did. We realize you can buy chocolate in a lot of places, and we want you to have a lot of reasons to buy it from us.” —Kristen Wile

Unpretentious People Say...

Other Articles You Might Enjoy