A “new house” for Neuhaus Chocolates

By Catherine Amos

Published: January 8, 2009

Next time Bill Clinton stops in town to pick up some high-end chocolates, he might be a little confused.

The Frenchman’s Corner — two downtown stores carrying gourmet chocolate, boutique kitchen supplies and a collection of beer and wine — no longer occupies two locations. The chocolate store, where Clinton stopped during an impromptu visit last February, shacked up with the kitchen store Sunday.

After seven years at 141 East Davis St., Frenchman’s Corner owner Marc Ast opted to end his lease to Yates Properties and move his Neuhaus chocolates up the street to “improve the way we work,” he said. Not counting preparations, the move took about four hours.

“In my business, it’s a constant evolution to keep up with what the customer wants,” Ast said. “But our chocolate — we’re still the No. 1 retailer for Neuhaus nationwide. That has not changed a bit.”

Brown paper covers the windows of the former chocolate shop, with signs that read, “Look forward to a new retail store at this location.” Ast said there were at least two interested parties in the space, one of whom is a local businessman Ast recommended to his landlord.

Greg Yates of Yates Properties could not be reached for comment.

Inside 129 E. Davis St. — the other, and now only, Frenchman’s Corner — a change was hardly noticeable. The center wall display of kitchen gadgets is instead mounted on the outer walls, three chilled chocolate cases in its place.

“It just makes things easier because you had people running back and forth between the stores,” said Jonathan Ast, Marc’s son, who works at the store.

Marc Ast also sold his ice cream business to Raven’s Nest coffee shop down the street, which will carry year round the ice cream he sold only seasonally.

But Ast wanted to assure his customers the consolidation did not mean he was closing his business and stressed the importance of shopping downtown, recycling local money.

“I told my customers when I took this on seven years ago that I took this on long term,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere. We’re a part of this community and I think downtown is a quilt. Sometimes a piece doesn’t work and you remove it and put in something new.”

The Frenchman’s Corner still houses The Frenchman’s Cellar, a beer, wine and cheese shop run by Jeffrey Mitchell.

The two are separate entities because of alcohol sales, but operate as one business.

Ast will also continue to sell fresh fish and local meats, as well as market local chef Shawn Sisson’s personal take out meals every Friday.

And don’t forget his annual tradition of chocolate-covered strawberries for Valentine’s Day.

“The hard part for retail right now is this is unknown territory,” Ast said of the current economic climate. “We’re writing the book as we go and for any retail owners, they have to try to understand the consumer mood.

“I think eventually things will start to come back to normal and it will be a nightmare that we wish didn’t happen but did happen. What else can you do?”

But in Ast’s opinion, the national economic decline does not necessarily reflect what is happening in Virginia or even Culpeper. The economy affects everyone, but not everyone is struggling, he said.

“The last two years were exceptional years,” he said. “So when things changed, I decided I was not going to compare this past year to the year before or the year before that. We’re just going to work harder and do what we can.”