by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
Temperatures may be reaching the 90s, but that didn’t stop Peterbrooke chocolatiers from getting ready for the holiday season Monday.
The sweet business of chocolate has helped the local business grow from one store in San Marco in 1983 to 30 across the Southeast today and franchisees were invited to Jacksonville to prepare for the holiday season.
Peterbrooke started franchising its stores in 2005 and has added 22 franchise stores to its eight corporate stores in Florida. The franchise stores are located in Florida, Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina. A store in Dallas is coming soon, according to the company’s Web site.
“We’ve had a great track record over 20 years and we’ve stuck to our formula,” said Peter Behringer, president of Peterbrooke Chocolatier and son of founder Phyllis Geiger. “We decided to franchise the stores after we realized we had a concept that had a lot of momentum.”
The first annual franchise conference brought store owners back to Jacksonville to give them a peek at what products would be available this holiday season, instruction on how to make various products and packaging tips and informational sessions with some of the vendors. Once a franchisee is approved they go through a 10-day training session at the production facility and store in Jacksonville.
Only about 50 percent of the product in franchise stores comes from the production center. Forty percent of the candy and gift baskets are made on-site and 10 percent are novelties bought from vendors.
The franchise stores that display the company’s wares are required to be from 1,200-1,800 square feet. The total build out cost ranges from $243,000 to $366,000 depending on the size of the store. This price includes the $65,000 franchise fee.
The conference wasn’t all business. There were some activities organized to promote a little spirited competition.
“We have scheduled an Oreo dipping contest to see who can dip the most Oreos in chocolate in two minutes,” said Chris Sams, public relations director for Peterbrooke. “This allows them to have some fun, but also get some training. The chocolate dipped Oreos are one of our core items, so they need to make them quick and make them good.”
Six franchisees donned aprons and latex gloves for the clash of the cookies, and Christine Lentini emerged victorious with 33 Oreos ready for the market in two minutes. Lentini is co-owner of the Peterbrooke store in the OakLeaf Town Center, Jacksonville.
“I love cooking and sweets,” said Lentini about why she decided to get involved with Peterbrooke. “Chocolate that tastes this good is hard to come by, so we decided to get behind this quality product.”
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