Chocolate boutique will 'add personality' to downtown Glen Ellyn

Liz Mager has a charming idea: Tear yourself away from a screen and let's talk about chocolate.

The tie that binds? Not your Facebook feed, but good, dark, Dutch chocolate.

"It just makes you feel good," Mager says.

Mager plans to open what she describes as a chocolate boutique in Glen Ellyn, where she aims to satisfy sweet tooths and build connections.

"I want to give people a place where they can come and meet with their families and create their own memories," the North Aurora mom of three says.

That desire came after a nearly 30-year career in technology. Yes, a techie is advocating human-to-human conversations, but that's not so radical for someone who's also naturally sociable.

About three years ago, Mager left her job at McDonald's, where she worked behind-the-scenes on the fast-food giant's technology infrastructure. But for all the advances in the digital age, Mager believes "we've also lost some of the connections, the people connections."

"And I really feel that the downtowns are the opportunity to start building those connections for families again," she said.

So Mager is buying and rehabbing a building in downtown Glen Ellyn next to the post office (she expects to finalize the purchase later this month). Two current businesses, a salon and a real estate firm, will continue leasing spaces on the building's east side on Pennsylvania Avenue.

On the west, Mager will split a former carpet store, vacant since March 2011, into two spaces, one of which she will lease out, ideally to a restaurant.

And in the second, 2,500-square-foot space, Mager plans to open her own business, a Chocolaterie Stam (the closest store is in downstate Galena) next spring.

She made the career change out of a desire to spend more time with family after her husband died.

"It changes how you look at things, what's important and where you want to spend your time," Mager said. "So why would I take on such a big challenge?"

She has the energy. She knows real estate after years of working with McDonald's developers. And she does her research, compiling a binder of data on sales and demographics.

Manger considered other chains of chocolate retailers, but wanted to be able to leave her own mark on the business.

"I also didn't want to be confined to, 'You have to do it this way'," she said.

The Stam family opened its first chocolate store in the early 1900s in Amsterdam, and today has about a dozen locations in the United States. The company turns European chocolate into elaborate molds (see: baby carriages), bonbons, truffles and gift boxes in a facility in Des Moines, Iowa.

"They do allow me, as the owner, to have a lot of latitude as to how I want to design things, what I want it to look like, so that every store isn't the same," Mager said.

The design will renovate the facade, adding new windows and outdoor seating.

"I think it's beautiful. I think it's cool. I think it's exciting," Mager said. " ... I just think it's going to add some personality to the street."

Mager will be the friendly personality that works behind a 22-foot-long display of chocolate in a building that must be maintained at 68 degrees round-the-clock. And because chocolate sales tend to dip in the warmer months, she'll also offer gelato and coffee.

Mager wants customers to treat the store like a coffeehouse, lingering over a book or engaging in those conversations.

"It has to be an experience," Mager said. "It has to be a warm environment because retail just for the sake of retail doesn't really work today."