Chocolate Bliss expanding to Fourth Street

An expansion will bring sweet treats to Fourth Street later this summer when Ann Knies opens a second location of her popular candy and kitchen gear store, Chocolate Bliss, at 412 E. Fourth Street.

The new location is Ann’s first foray from the Jasper base she began building in 2005 when she opened on Main Street across from German American Bank. A couple of location hops and expansions later and Chocolate Bliss and Kitchen Essentials now fills the southeast corner of Jasper’s downtown square.

Ann began considering a move to Huntingburg about eight months ago as she saw the activity and growth on Fourth Street. While she was thinking about this, a building owner reached out to see if she would be interested in considering adding another location.

“I could see that Huntingburg has a different type of foot traffic and that piqued my interest,” she said adding that while she has considered adding another location over the years when she was approached about Huntingburg spot, she felt things were aligning.

Her instinct was further confirmed after she spent a couple of weekends on Fourth Street checking out each store and observing the sidewalk traffic. “It is a very different customer base,” she said. “I didn’t recognize one person.”

Since businesses are always looking for different customers, seeing a different crowd visiting Fourth Street than what she usually sees in Downtown Jasper was positive.

After she took a look at the building, Ann decided it was a good fit. “Sometimes when you step into a space and feel it, you have to trust your gut,” she explained.

The new location will be much smaller than the 3,500 square feet her Jasper store fills but it will carry the same sweet treats — many of them handmade.

“It will be a nice selection of packaged chocolates and treats as well as foodie type items,” Ann said. “There might be some things we offer in the Huntingburg location that we won’t have at the Jasper store and vice versa.”

She will also have some kitchen gadgets but at this point, Ann is playing it by ear regarding what all she will offer as she lays out the small shop.

“I’ve received nothing but positive responses from the people and shops on Fourth Street,” she said. “They are happy and excited we are coming.”

“It just feels like this is going to be a great fit,” Ann added.