“Little Chocolatiers” Hatch Family Chocolates In Financial Bind

Hatch Family Chocolates became known across the country with TLC’s series, “The Little Chocolatiers.”  But fame doesn’t guarantee fortune.  On his Facebook page, Steve Hatch posted a plea for a solution to his company’s financial bind.

He and Katie Masterson need to come up with $150,000 by Jan. 1 or face foreclosure.

Here’s his post:

“Dear Friends,
I’m writing this note because we could use your assistance and advice. Kate and I opened our chocolate shop just over 10 years ago in the Avenues. From the beginning we had no doubt that the Avenues is our home. We knew that we had picked the best location to open our chocolate shop.
Within a couple of years Hatch Family Chocolates had outgrown its first shop on 4th Avenue. We simply did not have enough space to serve our walk-in customers or to continue producing enough chocolates to meet the growing demand.
In 2010 we found the perfect venue for our thriving business. We purchased the 8th Avenue Market. We didn’t make this move without a lot of thought. The real estate market had plummeted….the building had recently been under contract and we were very fortunate to make an offer once the previous offer had expired. We did this because we had a vision for our neighborhood. We simply wanted to create a neighborhood retail venue that is aligned with our values and our desire to build a strong community.
Ultimately, this vision has not followed the path we hoped, and the reconstruction of our building and sales projections consumed any excess cash flow that we were able to save for this investment.
We actively sought a tenant that would share our vision to lease the vacant retail space in our new building. Finally, in the Spring of 2013 the Avenues Proper & Publick House opened their doors. They have been a great addition to the neighborhood, but while the net revenues from Hatch Family Chocolates has increased, it has been much slower than we had anticipated and we are struggling to raise enough revenues each month to fund our operations. Simply put, Kate and I need to raise $150,000.00 before January 1, 2014 or our building and business will be lost to foreclosure.
We took the risk to invest in this building because we wanted something more for our neighborhood. We want to create much more than a chocolate shop. The past two summers our outdoor block parties with outdoor movies have helped create a neighborhood where people simply loved to live. We’ve added theme nights including magic and chocolate chip cookies to provide more opportunities for our friends and neighbors to come together.
We believe our vision is still well founded and because of this, we are asking for your help to give us any advice or insight in how we can continue creating much more than just a chocolate shop. We are open to any ideas, including any investors who might be interested in buying our building and maintain a long-term lease, or join us as a stakeholder in the success we still believe is possible in the future. We would love to discuss the many ideas we have for growth and new revenue streams. Or if you are interested in contributing to save our business you may send your donations to:

8th Avenue Properties, LLC
Attn: Katie Masterson or Stephen Hatch
376 8th Avenue, Unit A
Salt Lake City, Utah 84103
info@hatchfamilychocolates.com
801-532-4912-Store

As always, thank you for your support and friendship.