The Story Behind Why We Opened a Chocolate Shop in Mānoa 12 Years Ago

It wasn’t my plan to open a chocolate store.

Making chocolates and building a commercial kitchen was one thing, but opening a store, committing to hours, filling it with products, and hiring a team was a whole other level.

It happened while I was away in Yokohama, Japan on a mission trip with my church. While there, I met so many Japanese people looking for hope, sharing their stories with me, and I felt called to reach them somehow. I said a bold prayer, “God, if you want me to be a missionary, I would be willing to move to Japan to be a missionary for you.”

And you know what God said?

“No.”

“Go home and open a chocolate store.”

Not the answer, I was expecting. What? Seriously God. I had only been selling my chocolates in a mini beverage refrigerator that sat in Linda’s store just in front of our kitchen. She gave me my first little shot at retail and I made more chocolates every time it sold out and filled that little refrigerator. Just then, Linda called. She said, “Erin, I decided I’m going to retire.” That sudden unexpected news meant I had three options. Option #1: Close the kitchen and quit. Option #2: Find another location to rent and build another commercial kitchen. Option #3: Assume her lease space and open a store.

Oh my gosh…I guess I was opening a store!

I didn’t feel ready for it. I had no idea if this was going to work. I had no plans to open a brick and mortar and run a retail shop of my own. I had worked part time in retail and restaurant, but clocked in and out and didn’t understand the depth of the operation, finances, staffing, and how it would all work out. 

All I knew was God said, “Open a chocolate store.”

And so, I came home from that mission trip, opened this store in September 2014 and hoped for the best. And ironically, do you know who were some of our very first customers? People from Japan! They literally came walking, some all the way from Waikiki deep into Mānoa valley and turned the corner on Lowrey to find us at the back of this building because they said, they heard that we were “the best chocolate in Hawaiʻi.” Who told them that? God? I guess He didn’t want me to be a missionary in Japan. Instead, His plan was to bring the mission field to us in Mānoa.

And to this day, we are so grateful to serve locals, friends from Japan, and from all over the world, “Bringing peace to our world, one chocolate at a time.”

Finding peace by piece:

May this shop story bring you peace: if you are heading in one direction and then God calls you back home, He may have a plan for you that's better than you could have ever imagined! Even if you donʻt feel ready, wherever you are is your mission field for this season.

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” -Matthew 28:19-20