Gayle's Chocolates In Royal Oak To Move Out West

ROYAL OAK, MI — Royal Oak’s only chocolatier Gayle’s Chocolates is closing up shop. After 34 years in its brick-and-mortar location on Washington Avenue in downtown Royal Oak, owner Gayle Hart and her husband are relocating to Arizona, they announced Wednesday.

The business will celebrate one final Easter season and close its doors in early May. The good news for Gayle fans is that she’s taking her chocolate-making operations with her and will sell online at www.gayleschocolates.com. A retail store will be opened up in Cottonwood, Ariz.

“I’ve been in Royal Oak for a long, long time. This is home. But, it’s time for me to start a new chapter in my life,” Harte said in the announcement. “Looking back, these 34 years have flown by so fast because I truly love what I do. I’m incredibly thankful to all of the employees and customers who have come through our doors.”

Harte started her business in 1979 with one saucepan on one stove in Huntington Woods. The home-based chocolate making operation grew, and in 1984, she moved production to Royal Oak. The retail shop opened on the first floor of the building the day before Valentine’s Day in 1985. Gayle’s was the first to serve espresso in Royal Oak; the chocolate shop opened before the downtown area was bustling.

Gayle uses locally-sourced ingredients in her pieces and has taken custom orders over the years to create unique edibles.

“One year, we received an order to make a special batch of chocolate $100 bills,” Harte said. “We traveled by boat to Mackinac Island late at night to take hundreds of these chocolate bars to the Grand Hotel to hang on people’s doors.”

Gayle’s is known for its artisanal chocolates and truffles (along with its unique items, like chocolate high-heeled shoes). It’s become a staple of downtown Royal Oak, said the city’s community engagement specialist and longtime resident Judy Davids.

“We love Gayle’s. When my boys come home, Gayle’s is a place they always want to go. If they get a new girlfriend, they always want to take her to Gayle’s,” Davids said. “We’re definitely going to miss it. But the downtown and who is here is fluid; it’s almost designed to break your heart. There’s always someone going, but there’s always someone coming in.”

The shelves at Gayle’s are currently stocked full of all things Easter, including solid chocolate bunnies, Easter eggs, chocolate-covered Oreos and other sweet treats. Now through Easter, each customer who spends $50 or more will get a free, four-piece box of truffles.

(Photo illustration by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)