Life is Sweet at The Chocolate Truffle

Sex and the City is synonymous with Manhattan, but the hit TV show's second movie received a boost from a business much closer to home.

Reading's The Chocolate Truffle worked with the movie maker's marketer, Terry Hines & Associates, to promote "Sex and the City 2." The store created the Glamour Girl Cocktail Truffle, which features Skyy Vodka, lemon, lime and chasis, in honor of the movie and this was passed out at the movie's Boston premiere. It's not the only national exposure the store has received recently.

The company, which opened in 1990 in Woburn's Cummings Park, moved to Main Street in Reading in 2006 three years after Reading residents Erin Calvo-Bacci and Carlo Bacci bought The Chocolate Truffle.

They purchased the business a year after Calvo-Bacci gave birth to their second child. Calvo-Bacci was ready for a new business venture. Her background is in sales, including work for Haven's Candies and Fanny Farmer, and she figured that buying The Chocolate Truffle would help her expand her hobby of making lollipops and other tasty treats. 

Calvo-Bacci didn't realize that four years later she would grow the business to three stores.

 "We thought it was just a seasonal business. We had no idea what it would entail," said Calvo-Bacci.

Until the couple purchased the business, The Chocolate Truffle used outside vendors for their chocolate, but the Reading couple decided to bring the chocolate and candy making in-house. They bought a manufacturer in Lawrence and moved it to Swampscott.

They also moved the store from Woburn to 494 Main St., in Reading in March 2006. Calvo-Bacci said Reading welcomed her chocolate business because the town had not enjoyed a chocolate shop since Putnam Pantry closed in the 1980s -- except for one shop that didn't last in the Center.

"People loved we were not a tanning salon, a sub shop, with all due respect. We were something different," said Calvo-Bacci.

The new location presented its share of initial challenges. Winfrey's Fudge is only 1.5 miles away in Stoneham so The Chocolate Truffle faced nearby competition and needed to set itself apart from the long-standing establishment. Plus, downtown Reading was being reconstructed and facing business turnover when the couple moved the business to their hometown. Calvo-Bacci recalled that some customers initially stayed away in the early days because they felt the downtown construction was a nightmare.

Calvo-Bacci said the construction really wasn't so bad, but the perception kept people away. During that trying time, Calvo-Bacci took her frustration with the situation and "made lemonade out of lemons," she recalled.

She took The Chocolate Truffle's chocolate drizzled popcorn, which was already popular, and combined it with broken pieces of other goodies and created a product called Reconstruction Rubble as a tongue-in-check tribute to the Reading construction project.

The Boston Herald featured the product and Fox-25 showcased the treat during a Zip Trip to Reading.

Since moving the store to Reading, the couple has opened two more storefronts -- Lynnfield and Winchester. Opening in March 2009, the Winchester store is in the middle of a busy downtown business district and sees the most foot traffic. Reading's average sale is still higher, she said.

Though The Chocolate Truffle has added storefronts, there are actually fewer employees since the Baccis purchased the business. There are 11 employees, including the Reading couple. Calvo-Bacci said the business needed to shed staff in order to grow.

The Chocolate Truffle isn't just a local establishment. Customers from as far away as New Hampshire, Framingham, Fitchburg and Quincy have driven to the Reading storefront to buy chocolate.

For those who don't want to make the trek, The Chocolate Truffle offers delivery service as well as mail service through UPS.

Those services come in handy because the Reading business has been recognized nationally recently. In addition to the Sex and the City promotion, Rachael Ray named the store's marshmallow peanut butter cup a snack of the day; Specialty Food magazine named the business a finalist for Retailer of the Year; and TasteTV featured The Chocolate Truffle in its "The Chocolate Guide" book.

The chocolate market can be a crowded field and it forces businesses to set themselves apart from the competition. This is the case for The Chocolate Truffle, which not only has Winfrey's Fudge & Chocolates just down the street, but Russo's Fine Chocolates nearby in Saugus.

Calvo-Bacci said there are two ways The Chocolate Truffle sets itself apart from the competition. One is the business' specialty – truffles. Calvo-Bacci estimated that 60% of the store's business is truffles, including salt caramel, almond cheesecake and Sam Adams.

The other way is by making its products in-house rather than buying from vendors. This leads to quality control. The Chocolate Truffle hand rolls truffles in small batches, she said.

"What sets us apart is a quality product. It's not mass produced. It's as fresh as it gets," she said.

For more information, go online to: http://www.thechocolatetruffle.com/. The store also has a Twitter page and Facebook fan page.