Chocolate Gems prepares to move chocolate shop from Black Mountain to downtown Asheville

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

1

Photo by Jerry Nelson/JourneyAmerica.org

Here’s the sign that’s up in the window of a store front along Broadway in downtown Asheville. Here’s what I reported back on April 27:

Chocolate Gems, on West State Street in Black Mountain, opened in 2005. Now word is that Chocolate Gems plans to move to Broadway in downtown Asheville. The couple who own the shop met in France in 1996, according to their website, and spent time sailing the world before settling down in Western North Carolina.

More from the business website:

“Andrew and Sue met in France in 1996 while they were both signed on as crew for the delivery of a catamaran from France to Texas. The following year they set sail on their own boat from Waukegan, IL and sailed out of the Great Lakes, down the St Lawrence River and on to England, which is Sue’s home country. 

Over the next five years they sailed to Spain, Portugal, Canary Islands, Caribbean, back to England via Bermuda, etc.

After five years of sailing and a couple of months visiting family, they bought a house in Asheville. Sue started making chocolates at home and decided she wanted to do more. In 2005 they opened the shop in Black Mountain, NC. You will find them both in the shop early in the mornings, making chocolates.”