Austin and Grant Gappelberg knows how important it is to keep a family tradition alive.
Their parents were looking for a brand that represented the luxury celebrity lifestyle and something they could pass on to their children — thus, Hampton Chocolate Factory was born.
Austin and Grant spent their childhood going to trade shows and farmer's markets, where the first Hampton Chocolate Factory store opened.
“We weren’t hanging with friends on the weekends, we were in the store working," Austin said. "We’ve been in it since the start."
Before the pandemic, the brothers moved to Florida to attend college in Tampa, where Austin said he saw the “perfect chance” to open a new store in Sparkman Wharf.
“During my senior year, I started thinking about what I’d do after college and that's when my brother and I got the idea to open up a Hampton Chocolate Factory right here in Channelside,” said Austin, who graduated from the University of Tampa.
The store was funded by the duo's parents, who decided to move to Naples and shut down the original store back in New York.
“The best investment is in yourself and the closest investment to yourself is your family," Austin said. "My parents started the business and wanted to see us continue to grow it. They trusted us and invested and so far, it’s paying dividends."
The Hampton Chocolate Factory is far from the only chocolate shop in Tampa — there's Peterbrooke Chocolatier, William Dean Chocolates and Chocolate Pi, to name a few. But Austin said what separated his shop from the rest is its portion sizes and branding.
“We're known as a decadent dessert destination, so if you go on our social media, you'll see we have giant ice cream cones with five pounds of ice cream,” he said. “We've had people travel from California, Columbia and Boston just to visit our store and experience it.”
The company has its sights on expansion with hopes to open up a new store in Q3 next year. The store currently has 25 employees and is looking to hire locally during this holiday season.
“We need people during this busy holiday season; come on down and join the team,” Austin said.
The business is on pace to hit $1 million during its first year, but Austin still sees much more room for growth.
“The next level for the Hampton Chocolate Factory is building our e-commerce business; we don't do nearly enough revenue online and because we haven't focused on it, I think this shift in Q4 that we've taken towards corporate gifting is positioned us to raise those numbers,” he said. “There’s also an untapped market of shipping nationally that we want to enter in the coming years.”
