Seattle Chocolate Launches Pop-Up Retail Location

Seattle Chocolate Co. opened its first stand-alone retail location. The colorful pop-up brick-and-mortar store immerses guests in the company’s jcoco line with an exclusive array of chocolate, fashionable gift items, accessories and home decor. Additionally, the shop will undergo three complete transformations during its seven-month run in The Bellevue Collection, each with its own color palette, in-store offerings and special events. 

“Our jcoco pop-up shop is so much more than just another chocolate shop – and we designed it that way deliberately,” said Jean Thompson, owner and CEO. “We wanted our guests to taste, touch, explore and fully engage with our brand and its vision, so we created a shop that offers a hands-on, treasure-hunt-like experience for retail lovers and chocolate enthusiasts.” 

The first of the trio of branded experiences at the jcoco pop-up was inspired by the vanuatu coconut pecan bar. Outfitted in vibrant cyan blue tempered with copper accents and natural woods, the shop embodies a tropical oasis and transports guests to this bar’s point of origin, the Vanuatu Islands. 

Shots of warm vanuatu milk chocolate and oversized bowls of cocoa nibs, whole pecans and dried coconut offer a delicious deconstruction of the ingredients in this popular bar, designed to be enjoyed while browsing a carefully curated selection of American couture chocolate and gift items. 

From copper bangles that mirror the bar’s foil wrapping to turquoise flip flops, jeweled accessories and elegant table settings, everything on hand was selected to engage guests’ senses and underscore the look and feel of the isles. Pop-up purchases will also contribute to the brand’s “jcoco gives” program, providing a fresh serving of food to an American in need for every bar sold.

The shop will later “flip” to an energetic orange with a south-of-the-border feel inspired by the cayenne veracruz orange bar and a festive red in honor of jcoco’s seasonal holiday bar. 

Each version of the shop will offer a tactile taste experience and, just like the first installment, carry a meticulously hand-selected offering of retail items inspired by each bar’s point of origin and colorful packaging. All the decor and staging items used for each design stage will be available for purchase as the shop prepares for its next transformation.

“The jcoco brand was created with a very distinct vision,” noted Peter Stocker of MG2, the creative mind responsible for the design behind the jcoco pop-up shop. “From the give-back with each bar sold, to the fashion-forward look and feel of the packaging, everything about this brand has been built from the ground up to stand out – and I wanted this retail experience to do the same.” 

“This is not your ordinary chocolate shop,” continued Stocker, who in addition to designing the jcoco location also helped Thompson and team with the visual identity for the brand. “The jcoco pop-up was designed to make guests re-imagine retail, to rethink the experience of shopping for chocolate and other gifts. This shop provides a continually rotating and immersive brand experience that engages senses on every level, in a way that is impossible to do online or even in a traditional brick-and-mortar space.” 

Additionally, the new retail location will regularly host Friday tasting events, which will introduce guests to unique beverage and food pairings for the jcoco bars, offer education on what to look for when selecting premium chocolate, and provide festive and fun gifting inspiration. 

The jcoco pop-up shop will be open in Bellevue, Wash., through December.