The Two Chocolatiers

While there is a female behind the success of downtown Fayetteville's Chocolate Lady store, the chocolate lady's husband, an Army veteran, is also crucial to the business.

Bryan Nelson grew up a military brat, born and raised in Fayetteville. He entered the Army in 1987 as a 75 Bravo and later became an 11 Bravo. He married his wife, Jeannie, and they were restationed to Hawaii in 1992.

During their time in Hawaii, Jeannie Nelson worked for a chocolate company. Bryan was medically discharged from the Army and the family moved back to Fayetteville.

About 10 years after the homecoming, Jeannie's love for making chocolate was still there and Bryan came off the road as a tractor trailer driver to join his wife in the business.

Now in operation for nine years, the Chocolate Lady is definitely a family effort.

"I drove tractor trailers for five or six years and I didn't have a bedtime schedule," Bryan said. "Jeannie finally told me that she needed my help. We live together and we work together. I love the ability to be with my wife everyday. We grow closer and closer."

Located in downtown Fayetteville, the store offers a wide variety of chocolate treats. They make milk, white and dark chocolate delicacies like chocolate covered cherries, cherry mice, cookies and cream items, tuxedo cake items and a full line of truffles, including irish cream kahlua, amaretto, white chocolate, white pina colada, white pineapple, key lime, raspberry and dark chocolate.

The store also features items that appeal to children like frogs, dinosaurs, marshmallows on crazy straws, turtles and pretzel rocks. The store's biggest seller is chocolate covered strawberries, which sells the best on Mother's Day and Valentine's Day. The Nelsons also make birthday cakes, wedding cakes and rice krispies treat cakes.

The Nelsons made a rice crispies treat cake one year for a little boy who was 7 and had never tasted his own birthday cake, because he couldn't eat regular cake.

"The mom was so happy because the little boy got to taste his own cake for the first time," Jeannie said.

"That was special," Bryan added.

Events like that make the Nelson's job fulfilling. They have been able to touch others, as well.

"We've had customers come into our store and they loved it so much they moved to Australia and started their own chocolate company," Jeannie Nelson said.

The Nelsons had a customer who would come in once a year and order 200 to 300 truffles to take back to his family in Germany.

And what makes it worthwhile is customers' reactions they agreed.

"I love it when they come in and they try our truffles for our first time, and they make comments like, 'These are better than Godiva,'" Bryan said.

The Choclate Lady also offers a line of cocktail cupcakes on Friday and Saturday. The Nelsons will begin making them available everyday once they move to their new location in the near future.

When the store moves from the Point News at 318 Hay St. to 105 Hay St. near the Market House, the Nelsons will have more space and be in a building with newer construction, new tile floors and be able to make the chocolate in the store instead of at home, which is the current case.

The store will additionally feature ice cream, banana splits, milk shakes and sundaes. The Point News location only has hand dipped ice cream and many customers ask for banana splits and milk shakes, Jeannie said. Plus, the Chocolate Lady will host birthday parties and candy making classes.

"Customers can have fun and eat at the same time," Jeannie said of the classes.

And since the business is still in downtown Fayetteville, the Nelsons enjoy the benefits of location, location, location.

"The businesses grow everyday," Jeannie Nelson said. "As new businesses come in, the more traffic we get. We get alot of advertising down here that we wouldn't get anywhere else. People come here to check it out."